Question about Source Control

[Frank Millman]

"Frank Millman" <frank at chagford.com> wrote in message 
news:lgbe6g$j9o$1 at ger.gmane.org...
>
>
> To recap my basic setup, I have machine A which holds the source 
> directory, machine B which is used to edit the program, and machines B and 
> C which are both used to run the program.
>
> Initially, to prove that I understand the concept, I propose to install 
> Mercurial on all three machines. Machine A will hold the central 
> repository, which I will clone onto machines B and C. After editing on B, 
> I will 'push' to A, and then from C 'pull' from A to get the latest 
> version.
>

Ok, I did that, and it worked. I think I may be on the path to 
enlightenment.

One thing still confuses me. Over the lifetime of a project, there could be 
many thousands of changesets. Some of those could be tagged as 'major 
releases'. Someone wishing to clone the project from scratch may want to 
start from the latest major release, and not download every changeset since 
the project started.

How is this handled in practice?

Thanks

Frank