[Distutils] Attempted summary of version number thread

[John Skaller]

>So perhaps the following scheme might be acceptable: Version numbers
>start with an API version number, then any combination of letters and
>punctuation that is likely to make sense to a human reader, followed
>by an optional "alpha" or "beta" indicator. The first number would
>change only if a package cannot be used as a drop-in replacement for
>its predecessors. Is that something the "anarchists" could agree on?

        Here is an idea of an alternative:
every package supplies a package identification script,
which is a Python script that builds some data structures
and a function:

        isupgradeof(pkg)

        to discover if a package is an upgrade of another,
the client executes BOTH package identification scripts,
and then calls BOTH isupgradeof functions (each on
the other package).

        A package is an upgrade of another if one
of the functions says so, otherwise not.

        It may be worth considering
adding this kind of functionality to
the __init__ module of a package.

        Just an idea. Remember, we all know
some OO, and we know it is better to represent
abstractions with methods than data <grin>


                
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John Skaller    email: skaller@maxtal.com.au
		http://www.maxtal.com.au/~skaller
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