go through and rewrite the changes files to be more user-facing

changes/10582_tproxy

   o Minor features:
-
     - Add support for the TPROXY transparent proxying facility on Linux.
-      See documentation for the new TransProxyType option for more details.
-      Implementation by "thomo". Closes ticket 10582.
+      See documentation for the new TransProxyType option for more
+      details. Implementation by "thomo". Closes ticket 10582.
 
 

changes/10777_netunreach

-  - Minor bugfixes:
-
-    - Treat ENETUNREACH, EACCES, and EPERM at an exit node as a
-      NOROUTE error, not an INTERNAL error, since they can apparently
-      happen when trying to connect to the wrong sort of
-      netblocks. Fixes a part of bug 10777; bugfix on 0.1.0.1-rc.
+  o Minor bugfixes:
+    - Treat ENETUNREACH, EACCES, and EPERM connection failures at an
+      exit node as a NOROUTE error, not an INTERNAL error, since they
+      can apparently happen when trying to connect to the wrong sort
+      of netblocks. Fixes part of bug 10777; bugfix on 0.1.0.1-rc.
 

changes/bug10046

   o Minor bugfixes:
-    - Fix an always-true assertion in pluggable transports code. Fixes
-      issue 10046. Found by dcb.
+    - Fix an always-true assertion in pluggable transports code so it
+      actually checks what it was trying to check. Fixes bug 10046;
+      bugfix on 0.2.3.9-alpha. Found by "dcb".

changes/bug10297

   o Minor features:
-    - Spawn background processes using the CREATE_NO_WINDOW flag on
-      Windows, in order to prevent a console window from appearing.
-      Resolves ticket 10297.
+    - On Windows, spawn background processes using the CREATE_NO_WINDOW
+      flag. Now Tor Browser Bundle 3.5 with pluggable transports enabled
+      doesn't pop up a blank console window. (In Tor Browser Bundle 2.x,
+      Vidalia set this option for us.) Implements ticket 10297.

changes/bug10313

   o Minor bugfixes:
-    - Fixed an erroneous pointer comparison that would have allowed
-      compilers to remove a bounds check in channeltls.c. The fix
-      was to remove the check entirely, since it was impossible for
-      the code to overflow the bounds. Noticed by Jared L
-      Wong. Fixes bug 10313 and 9980. Bugfix on 0.2.0.10-alpha.
-
+    - Remove an erroneous (but impossible and thus harmless) pointer
+      comparison that would have allowed compilers to skip a bounds
+      check in channeltls.c. Fixes bugs 10313 and 9980; bugfix on
+      0.2.0.10-alpha. Noticed by Jared L Wong and David Fifield.
 

changes/bug10324

   o Tool changes:
-    - Make tor-gencert create 2048 bit signing keys. Addresses ticket #10324.
+    - Make the "tor-gencert" tool used by directory authority operators
+      create 2048-bit signing keys by default (rather than 1024-bit, since
+      1024-bit is uncomfortably small these days). Addresses ticket 10324.

changes/bug10365

   o Minor bugfixes:
-
-    - When receving a VERSIONS cell with an odd number of bytes, close
-      the connection immediately. Fix for bug 10365; bugfix on
-      0.2.0.10-alpha. Spotted by "bobnomnom"; fix by "rl1987".
+    - When receiving a VERSIONS cell with an odd number of bytes, close
+      the connection immediately since the cell is malformed. Fixes bug
+      10365; bugfix on 0.2.0.10-alpha. Spotted by "bobnomnom"; fix by
+      "rl1987".
 
 

changes/bug10470

   o Documentation fixes:
-    - Note that all but one DirPort entry must have the NoAdvertise flag
-      set. Fix for #10470.
+    - Document that all but one DirPort entry must have the NoAdvertise
+      flag set. Fixes bug 10470; bugfix on 0.2.3.3-alpha / 0.2.3.16-alpha.
 

changes/bug10485

-<<<<<<< HEAD
   o Minor bugfixes:
     - Turn "circuit handshake stats since last time" log messages into a
       heartbeat message. Fixes bug 10485; bugfix on 0.2.4.17-rc.
 
-||||||| merged common ancestors
-=======
-  o Minor bugfixes:
-    - Move message about circuit handshake counts into the heartbeat
-      message where it belongs, instead of logging it once per hour
-      unconditionally. Fixes bug 10485; bugfix on 0.2.4.17-rc.
->>>>>>> origin/maint-0.2.4

changes/bug10536

 
-  o Minor bugfixes:
-    - Reject 0-lenth EXTEND2 cells more expicitly. Previously our code would
-      reject them a bit later than it should have. This bug is
-      harmless. Fixes bug 10536; bugfix on 0.2.4.8-alpha. Reported by
-      "cypherpunks".
+  o Code simplification and refactoring:
+    - Reject 0-length EXTEND2 cells more explicitly. Fixes bug 10536;
+      bugfix on 0.2.4.8-alpha. Reported by "cypherpunks".
+

changes/bug10543

   o Minor bugfixes:
-    - If all nodes with the Exit flag have been disabled with the ExitNodes
-      flag, consider nodes which can exit to other ports as well.  Fixes bug
-      10543; bugfix on 0.2.4.10-alpha.
+    - If we set the ExitNodes option but it doesn't include any nodes
+      that have the Exit flag, we would choose not to bootstrap. Now we
+      bootstrap so long as ExitNodes includes nodes which can exit to
+      some port. Fixes bug 10543; bugfix on 0.2.4.10-alpha.
 

changes/bug10565

   o Minor bugfixes:
-    - Fix compilation on Solaris 9, which didn't like us to have an
-      identifier namd "sun". Fixes bug 10565; bugfix in 0.2.5.1-alpha.
+    - Fix compilation on Solaris 9, which didn't like us having an
+      identifier named "sun". Fixes bug 10565; bugfix in 0.2.5.1-alpha.

changes/bug10722

   o Minor bugfixes:
-    - Consider non-excluded hidden service directory servers before
-      excluded ones. Do not consider excluded hidden service directory
-      servers at all if StrictNodes was set.  (Previously, we would
-      sometimes decide to connect to those servers, and then realize
-      before we initiated a connection that we had excluded them.)
-      Fix for bug #10722. Bugfix on 0.2.0.10-alpha. Reported by
-      "mr-4".
+    - If ExcludeNodes is set, consider non-excluded hidden service
+      directory servers before excluded ones. Do not consider excluded
+      hidden service directory servers at all if StrictNodes is
+      set. (Previously, we would sometimes decide to connect to those
+      servers, and then realize before we initiated a connection that
+      we had excluded them.) Fixes bug 10722; bugfix on 0.2.0.10-alpha.
+      Reported by "mr-4".

changes/bug10758

-  o Removed code
-    - Remove all code that existed to support the v2 directory system:
-      There are no longer any v2 directory authorities. Resolves
-      bug 10758.
+  o Removed code and features:
+    - Remove all code that existed to support the v2 directory system,
+      since there are no longer any v2 directory authorities. Resolves
+      ticket 10758.

changes/bug10777_internal_024

   o Major bugfixes:
-    - Do not treat END_STREAM_REASON_INTERNAL as indicating a definite
-      circuit failure, since it could also indicate an ENETUNREACH
-      error. Fixes part of bug 10777; bugfix on 0.2.4.8-alpha.
+    - Do not treat streams that fail with reason
+      END_STREAM_REASON_INTERNAL as indicating a definite circuit failure,
+      since it could also indicate an ENETUNREACH connection error. Fixes
+      part of bug 10777; bugfix on 0.2.4.8-alpha.

changes/bug10793

   o Minor features (security):
-    - Always clear OpenSSL bignums before freeing them--even bignums
+    - Always clear OpenSSL bignums before freeing them -- even bignums
       that don't contain secrets. Resolves ticket 10793. Patch by
       Florent Daigniere.

changes/bug10842

-  o Minor bugfixes:
-    - Suppress a warning that votes and signatures cannot be uploaded to
-      other directory authorities if there's only one directory authority
-      in the network. Bugfix on 0.2.2.26-beta. Resolves ticket 10842.
+  o Minor bugfixes (log messages):
+    - Suppress a warning where, if there's only one directory authority
+      in the network, we would complain that votes and signatures cannot
+      be uploaded to other directory authorities. Fixes bug 10842;
+      bugfix on 0.2.2.26-beta.

changes/bug10870

   o Code simplification and refactoring:
     - Remove data structures which were introduced to implement the
       CellStatistics option: they are now redundant with the addition
-      of timestamp to the regular packed_cell_t data structure, which
-      we did in 0.2.4.18-rc in order to resolve #9093. Fixes bug
-      10870.
\ No newline at end of file
+      of a timestamp to the regular packed_cell_t data structure, which
+      we did in 0.2.4.18-rc in order to resolve ticket 9093. Implements
+      ticket 10870.

changes/bug10881

-  o Removed code:
-
-    - Remove code for designating authorities as "Hidden service
-      authorities". There has been no use of hidden service authorities
-      since 0.2.2.1-alpha, when we stopped uploading or downloading v0
-      hidden service descriptors. Fixes bug 10881; part of a fix for bug
-      10841.
+  o Removed config options:
+    - Remove the HSAuthoritativeDir and AlternateHSAuthority torrc
+      options, which were used for designating authorities as "Hidden
+      service authorities". There has been no use of hidden service
+      authorities since 0.2.2.1-alpha, when we stopped uploading or
+      downloading v0 hidden service descriptors. Fixes bug 10881; also
+      part of a fix for bug 10841.

changes/bug1376

-  o Minor bugfixes:
-
-    - Added additional argument to write_chunks_to_file to optionally skip
-      using a temp file to do non-atomic writes. Implements ticket #1376.
+  o Code simplification and refactoring: 
+    - Previously we used two temporary files when writing descriptors to
+      disk; now we only use one. Implements ticket 1376.