A recent article in the web said that Tonido is not mature because of the low version number(0.2.0.8156). This is downright silly.
The version number as used by most software is simply a number pulled out of thin air that has no connection with ground reality. Most commercial software for example, pick numbers > 1 to send a signal their software is somehow ready. But what does it mean anyway? Your software could be called version 100 the first time it is released and it still says nothing inherently about the quality of the product. It might just as well be another name for your product. e.g. Xyclotron Series 800 Model 101 Version 2.4.
Software version numbers allow one to distinguish between two different builds of the software so that for example one can answer questions like:
- Is this the most recent version of the software?
- What features(and bugs) are available in this build?
- What features(and bugs) are not available in this build?
Version numbers also can be used to indicate other things about the software (binary compatibility, stability) etc. But those are secondary functions with no standard.
In Tonido’s case the version number consists of 4 numbers:
MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH.BUILD
When we say 0.2.0.8156, it means we are at a (0) first major release cycle, (2) second minor release, (0) not a patch release, (8156) the internal build version.
The internal build version is keyed off Subversion’s version number. The advantage of using Subversion’s build number is that the version number now allows us to quickly answer the questions posed above by simply looking at the version tracking system’s change logs. If someone reports a bug and we know we fixed it, we can simply figure out if the build they used had that fix or not.
Anyway, I think the notion of version numbers telling something meaningful about your product are outdated. eMule is at 0.5 after 6 years. Java (version 6) actually refers to version 1.6, they simply omit the first version number and these days most web based software applications don’t have a version number, they are just at perpetual beta.
In Tonido’s case we are at 0.2 after 2 years, and at this rate we will probably hit 1.0 in 10 years. So if you are waiting for Tonido 1.0, you might have a long wait ahead.
