[Distutils] distutils version numbering

[Thomas Heller]

>>>>However, distutils.__version__ for python 2.2
>>>>as well as python 2.3 are the same ('1.0.3') !
>>>>Am I just looking in the wrong place ?
>>>
>>>No, there was no distutils release after 1.0.3.
>>>Starting with Python 2.4, distutils seem to follow
>>>the Python version number (even though I'm not really
>>>sure who made that decision and what the motivation
>>>was).

>> That was me, and it seemed a sensible thing to do.  And not changing
>> the distutils version number in Python 2.3 was a mistake, imo.
>
> Indeed. The version number should change with each new release
> being made available - whether as stand-alone version or
> as part of a Python release.
>
> I'm not sure whether using the Python version number is
> correct, though. distutils is not developed at the same
> pace as Python and a step from Python 2.3 to 2.4 is not
> necessarily a major step in distutils development.
>
> On the other hand, not bumping the version number
> for API changes is bad as well.
>
> I think we ought to keep things separate to make development
> easier: if you make an API change in distutils, bump the
> version number. That's a lot easier than remembering to
> adjust the version string for each Python release.
>
> What do you think ?

For me, the exact value of the version number is pretty meaningless,
even more if distutils is not developed separately from Python.  So, 2.4
means 'the distutils included with Python 2.4'.  Easier to remember that
distutils 1.0.4 was the version released with 2.4.

If it makes sense, I can take the resposibility to increase the version
number with each release, and update the corresponding PEPs, but I won't
object to the 'change API, bump version number' scheme as well.

Thomas