[Distutils] Version numbers for module distributions

[M.-A. Lemburg]

I think the discussion is moving in a wrong direction here.
We should maybe start to rethink what the intent of version
numbering is to start with:

· A newer version should be recognizable by comparing it
  to an older one and this must be doable by both computers
  and humans

· Newer versions might introduce interface changes, but these
  are described in the package history -- the version number
  may not reflect this change (e.g. Python's API level will
  change even though it's only a new patch level that's being
  released)

So basically all that's needed is to be able to compare the version
numbers of packages within a release sequence. It doesn't
matter whether they use numbers and dots, words or dates.

Trying to automate compatibility checks by only using version
numbers isn't really a feasable approach, IMHO. This will always
remain a manual and errorprone process...

-- 
Marc-Andre Lemburg                               Y2000: 386 days left
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