make no_lazy_load the default

modernization of spec tests and additional specs added

1 files changed, 15 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/RELEASE_NOTES.md b/RELEASE_NOTES.md
index 16bd09b67e..86cf8b0f19 100644
--- a/RELEASE_NOTES.md
+++ b/RELEASE_NOTES.md
@@ -1,6 +1,20 @@
 # Chef Client Release Notes:
 
-## Changed file_staging_uses_destdir Config default to True
+## Changed no_lazy_load config default to True
+
+Previously the default behavior of chef-client was lazily synchronize cookbook files and templates as
+they were actually used.  With this setting being true, all the files and templates in a cookbook will
+be synchronized at the beginning of the chef-client run.  This avoids the problem where time-sensitive
+URLs in the cookbook manifest may timeout before the `cookbook_file` or `template` resource is actually
+converged.  Many users find the lazy behavior confusing as well and expect that the cookbook should
+be fully synchronized at the start.
+
+Some users who distribute large files via cookbooks may see performance issues with this turned on.  They
+should disable the setting and go back to the old lazy behavior, or else refactor how they are doing
+file distribution (using `remote_file` to download artifacts from S3 or a similar service is usually a
+better approach, or individual large artifacts could be encapsulated into individual different cookbooks).
+
+## Changed file_staging_uses_destdir config default to True
 
 Staging into the system's tempdir (usually /tmp or /var/tmp) rather than the destination directory can
 cause issues with permissions or available space.  It can also become problematic when doing cross-devices