diff --git a/doc/manual/release-notes/release-notes.xml b/doc/manual/release-notes/release-notes.xml
index 4dc94477e..920870a27 100644
--- a/doc/manual/release-notes/release-notes.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/release-notes/release-notes.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<part xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+<appendix xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
       xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
       xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
       version="5.0"
@@ -6,9 +6,11 @@
 
 <title>Nix Release Notes</title>
 
+<!--
 <partintro>
 <para>This section lists the release notes for each stable version of Nix.</para>
 </partintro>
+-->
 
 <xi:include href="rl-1.8.xml" />
 <xi:include href="rl-1.7.xml" />
@@ -38,4 +40,4 @@
 <xi:include href="rl-0.6.xml" />
 <xi:include href="rl-0.5.xml" />
 
-</part>
+</appendix>
diff --git a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.10.1.xml b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.10.1.xml
index 884b1b8db..05cd2f654 100644
--- a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.10.1.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.10.1.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
       xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
       xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
       version="5.0"
@@ -10,4 +10,4 @@
 evaluating Nix expressions that are stored inside the Nix store
 (<literal>NIX-67</literal>).  These do not affect most users.</para>
 
-</chapter>
\ No newline at end of file
+</section>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.10.xml b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.10.xml
index fb55bd24f..7815ae75b 100644
--- a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.10.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.10.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
       xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
       xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
       version="5.0"
@@ -320,4 +320,4 @@ irreversible.</para></warning>
 
 </itemizedlist>
 
-</chapter>
\ No newline at end of file
+</section>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.11.xml b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.11.xml
index 40f83bbc7..9c5d8b8be 100644
--- a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.11.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.11.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
       xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
       xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
       version="5.0"
@@ -258,4 +258,4 @@ on Nix.  Here is an (incomplete) list:</para>
 
 </itemizedlist>
 
-</chapter>
\ No newline at end of file
+</section>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.12.xml b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.12.xml
index 173ed79ff..1f04609b1 100644
--- a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.12.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.12.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
       xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
       xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
       version="5.0"
@@ -172,4 +172,4 @@ the following paths will be downloaded/copied (30.02 MiB):
 
 </itemizedlist>
 
-</chapter>
\ No newline at end of file
+</section>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.13.xml b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.13.xml
index c116e42f5..9cf144e4e 100644
--- a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.13.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.13.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
       xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
       xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
       version="5.0"
@@ -103,4 +103,4 @@ features:</para>
 
 </itemizedlist>
 
-</chapter>
\ No newline at end of file
+</section>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.14.xml b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.14.xml
index 456be8b80..a671db3b8 100644
--- a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.14.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.14.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
       xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
       xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
       version="5.0"
@@ -41,4 +41,4 @@
 
 </itemizedlist>
 
-</chapter>
\ No newline at end of file
+</section>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.15.xml b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.15.xml
index ae6e12ada..b76f674ba 100644
--- a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.15.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.15.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
       xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
       xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
       version="5.0"
@@ -11,4 +11,4 @@ building on Mac OS X (Snow Leopard), and improves the contents of
 <filename>/etc/passwd</filename> and <filename>/etc/group</filename>
 in <literal>chroot</literal> builds.</para>
 
-</chapter>
\ No newline at end of file
+</section>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.16.xml b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.16.xml
index 49ac2ce8c..5254e5f9d 100644
--- a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.16.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.16.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
       xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
       xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
       version="5.0"
@@ -52,4 +52,4 @@
 
 </itemizedlist>
 
-</chapter>
\ No newline at end of file
+</section>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.5.xml b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.5.xml
index f7b40c119..e9f8bf270 100644
--- a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.5.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.5.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
       xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
       xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
       version="5.0"
@@ -8,4 +8,4 @@
 
 <para>Please refer to the Subversion commit log messages.</para>
 
-</chapter>
+</section>
diff --git a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.6.xml b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.6.xml
index a4d78edb9..83d9dc897 100644
--- a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.6.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.6.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
       xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
       xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
       version="5.0"
@@ -119,4 +119,4 @@
 
 </itemizedlist>
 
-</chapter>
\ No newline at end of file
+</section>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.7.xml b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.7.xml
index d6d61c12b..fc8997fc1 100644
--- a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.7.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.7.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
       xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
       xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
       version="5.0"
@@ -32,4 +32,4 @@
 
 </itemizedlist>
 
-</chapter>
\ No newline at end of file
+</section>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.8.1.xml b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.8.1.xml
index 986e4cb83..b4a855b55 100644
--- a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.8.1.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.8.1.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
       xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
       xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
       version="5.0"
@@ -18,4 +18,4 @@
 
 </itemizedlist>
 
-</chapter>
\ No newline at end of file
+</section>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.8.xml b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.8.xml
index 5f1e940bb..970abb6e8 100644
--- a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.8.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.8.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
       xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
       xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
       version="5.0"
@@ -243,4 +243,4 @@ $ nix-env -f .../i686-linux.nix -i -E 'x: x.firefoxWrapper'</screen>
 
 </para>
 
-</chapter>
\ No newline at end of file
+</section>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.9.1.xml b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.9.1.xml
index f90206d95..a7d093aa8 100644
--- a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.9.1.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.9.1.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
       xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
       xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
       version="5.0"
@@ -10,4 +10,4 @@
 when the <option>--with-aterm</option> flag in
 <command>configure</command> was <emphasis>not</emphasis> used.</para>
 
-</chapter>
\ No newline at end of file
+</section>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.9.2.xml b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.9.2.xml
index ea0412df2..33141c8e9 100644
--- a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.9.2.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.9.2.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
       xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
       xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
       version="5.0"
@@ -25,4 +25,4 @@
 
 </para>
 
-</chapter>
\ No newline at end of file
+</section>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.9.xml b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.9.xml
index be0e5fa28..07dd87cd9 100644
--- a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.9.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.9.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
       xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
       xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
       version="5.0"
@@ -95,4 +95,4 @@ svnService = derivation {
 
 </itemizedlist>
 
-</chapter>
\ No newline at end of file
+</section>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.0.xml b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.0.xml
index 21721b6cc..d000014eb 100644
--- a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.0.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.0.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
       xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
       xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
       version="5.0"
@@ -116,4 +116,4 @@ previous release.  Here are the most significant:</para>
 
 </itemizedlist>
 
-</chapter>
\ No newline at end of file
+</section>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.1.xml b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.1.xml
index db9939be1..7ee076f19 100644
--- a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.1.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.1.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
       xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
       xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
       version="5.0"
@@ -97,4 +97,4 @@
 
 </itemizedlist>
 
-</chapter>
\ No newline at end of file
+</section>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.2.xml b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.2.xml
index 72d164f00..6c05444ff 100644
--- a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.2.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.2.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
       xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
       xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
       version="5.0"
@@ -154,4 +154,4 @@ $ mount -o remount,ro,bind /nix/store
 <para>This release has contributions from Eelco Dolstra, Florian
 Friesdorf, Mats Erik Andersson and Shea Levy.</para>
 
-</chapter>
\ No newline at end of file
+</section>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.3.xml b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.3.xml
index 8e5264840..04169ed01 100644
--- a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.3.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.3.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
       xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
       xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
       version="5.0"
@@ -16,4 +16,4 @@ efficient.)</para>
 <para>This release has contributions from Eelco Dolstra and Stuart
 Pernsteiner.</para>
 
-</chapter>
\ No newline at end of file
+</section>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.4.xml b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.4.xml
index d1a8cd6d8..d48e43f21 100644
--- a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.4.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.4.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
       xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
       xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
       version="5.0"
@@ -36,4 +36,4 @@ xlink:href="https://github.com/NixOS/nix/commit/5526a282b5b44e9296e61e07d7d2626a
 
 </itemizedlist>
 
-</chapter>
\ No newline at end of file
+</section>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.5.1.xml b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.5.1.xml
index 625d0afc4..046960313 100644
--- a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.5.1.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.5.1.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
       xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
       xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
       version="5.0"
@@ -9,4 +9,4 @@
 <para>The bug fix to the bug fix had a bug itself, of course.  But
 this time it will work for sure!</para>
 
-</chapter>
\ No newline at end of file
+</section>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.5.2.xml b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.5.2.xml
index 1446992a9..d2f53bbdc 100644
--- a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.5.2.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.5.2.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
       xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
       xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
       version="5.0"
@@ -9,4 +9,4 @@
 <para>This is primarily a bug fix release.  It has contributions from
 Eelco Dolstra, Lluís Batlle i Rossell and Shea Levy.</para>
 
-</chapter>
\ No newline at end of file
+</section>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.5.xml b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.5.xml
index 7319b52d8..84e0e9024 100644
--- a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.5.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.5.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
       xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
       xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
       version="5.0"
@@ -9,4 +9,4 @@
 <para>This is a brown paper bag release to fix a regression introduced
 by the hard link security fix in 1.4.</para>
 
-</chapter>
\ No newline at end of file
+</section>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.6.1.xml b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.6.1.xml
index f6d3a6ba6..1ca4dfeba 100644
--- a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.6.1.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.6.1.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
       xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
       xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
       version="5.0"
@@ -66,4 +66,4 @@ are:</para>
 
 </itemizedlist>
 
-</chapter>
\ No newline at end of file
+</section>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.6.xml b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.6.xml
index c0285b66f..a3d61faf2 100644
--- a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.6.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.6.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
       xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
       xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
       version="5.0"
@@ -124,4 +124,4 @@ in pkgs.bar
 Florian Friesdorf, Gergely Risko, Ivan Kozik, Ludovic Courtès and Shea
 Levy.</para>
 
-</chapter>
\ No newline at end of file
+</section>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.7.xml b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.7.xml
index 7257bc869..a9863b99c 100644
--- a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.7.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.7.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
       xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
       xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
       version="5.0"
@@ -260,4 +260,4 @@ error: attribute `nixUnstabl' missing, at /etc/nixos/configurations/misc/eelco/m
 Eelco Dolstra, Ian-Woo Kim, Ludovic Courtès, Maxim Ivanov, Petr
 Rockai, Ricardo M. Correia and Shea Levy.</para>
 
-</chapter>
\ No newline at end of file
+</section>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.8.xml b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.8.xml
index aace95210..de6f891ff 100644
--- a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.8.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.8.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
       xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
       xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
       version="5.0"
@@ -18,4 +18,4 @@
 
 </itemizedlist>
 
-</chapter>
+</section>