Package: debian-policy Version: 4.1.3.0 We had another thread on debian-devel recently, in which it once again became evident that epochs are misunderstood. Epoch bumps should be rare and there are often better solutions. I suggest that we should ask people to consult debian-devel.
Also we should encourage the +really convention rather than epoch bumps. Concretely, epoch This is a single (generally small) unsigned integer. It may be omitted, in which case zero is assumed. If it is omitted then the upstream_version may not contain any colons. - - It is provided to allow mistakes in the version numbers of older - versions of a package, and also a s previous version numbering - schemes, to be left behind. - package + + Epochs can help when the upstream version numbering scheme + changes, but they must be used with care. In Debian, please + consult debian-devel when changing the epoch. ... Note that the purpose of epochs is - to allow us to leave behind mistakes in version numbering, and to cope with situations where the + upstream version numbering scheme changes + and to allow us to leave behind serious mistakes . + + Epochs should not usually be used when + a package needs to be rolled back (use the +really convention) + or to cope with - It is not intended to version numbers containing strings of letters which the package management system cannot interpret (such as ALPHA or pre-), or with silly orderings. + + If you think that increasing the epoch is the right situation, + please consult debian-devel before doing so + (even in experimental). Ian.