only the odd-numbered versions would be required to remain constant
the version numbers should make a definite statement that "catdancer.toerr.3" is an inferior predecessor to "catdancer.toerr.4"
There's a difference between a release number and a version number. A version number, as you say, can be used to indicate that a later release is better, or indicate the stable vs. alpha/beta status of a release, etc. The release number merely identifies releases.
For example, pg had several releases of arc3. Under my naming system, they would have been named "pg.arc3.0", "pg.arc3.1", "pg.arc3.2", etc.
Regardless of the alpha/beta/stable status of a release, two releases of a library should never be released with the same name and release number for several reasons:
- If I'm telling you about a bug in your library, then I can tell you which release if saw the bug in. If you change your library without giving it a new release number, then we won't know if I'm talking about your old release or your new release.
- It's clear when a tool such as my "lib" library which downloads a library from a URL needs to download a new release. If there's a new release number, and I want that new release, then "lib" knows it needs to download the new release. If the release can change at the same URL, then "lib" has to periodically check to see if the file at the URL has changed.
- Just because I think that a release of mine is a "alpha/beta" version doesn't mean that you might not want to keep using it.
I see what you mean -- I was a bit confused about version vs release.
However, I still think that the name of the library should be "arc". Maybe the releases would be named "pg.arc.3.0", "pg.arc.3.1", etc. I just think that the library name should be distinct from the version and release numbers.
