While I don't think the problem is that big, I think it is a good step
to remove any remaining concerns and there is really no negative impact,
so here is my
+1
On 2026-10-22 11:53, Guillaume Nodet wrote:
+1
Le jeu. 22 oct. 2026 à 20:27, Matthias Bünger <[email protected]> a écrit :
Hallo everyone,
since decades many Maven users are confused by the fact that the version
of Maven diverges from its counterpart in the POM model. Questions like
"Why is the POM version 4.0.0, when I'm using Maven 3?" or "Do I have to
migrate my POM file when I update Maven?" pop up in many chats. The
simple answer to those is: This difference comes from a quick evolution
of the POM model during the early days of Maven. But since the POM model
4.0.0 hasn't changed since Maven 2 back in 2005, this knowledge got
forgotten, while irritation continues to rise.
With the introduction of a consumer POM (see [1]) and the optional POM
model version 4.1.0 available for the build POM (see [2]) in Maven
4.0.0, we see the first new model version in over 20 years. But the
result is the same: The versions of Maven and its model are not the
same. The definition of model version 4.2.0 was planned for Maven 4.1.0
- until now.
The Maven team would like to align the versions of Maven and the POM
Model version, starting with Maven 4.2.0, resulting in a version skip of
Maven itself. This means we do not plan to release a version called
"Maven 4.1.x". Instead, we want to raise the version to Maven 4.2.0 on
the master branch (see PR [3]). In the future the model version would
continuously rise with every major and minor version of Maven, while
keeping a certain backwards compatibility - so users only have to change
their POM file, when they want to make use of new model features.
In short:
- Maven 3.x uses POM model 4.0.0
- Maven 4.0 uses POM model 4.1.0 (build POM)
- Starting with Maven 4.2, the Maven and POM model versions will align
Before we finalize this, we want to get your thoughts about the change.
Before answering, please keep in mind that:
- this only effects the build POM of Maven, but _NOT_ the POM consumed
by the Maven ecosystem, including Maven central and other build tools.
The model of the consumer POM will stay at the long-known version 4.0.0.
- this is only to wipe out the discrepancy of the Maven version and its
POM model in favor for easier version understanding and management. It
has nothing to do with the discussion about whether the namespace of the
XSD should contain a number or not (as of April 2026 the majority wants
to keep it in the namespace, see [4]).
- the idea of aligning versions is nothing new. It was mentioned several
times over the years, e.g. in this article of "JVM Advent" back in 2021
(see [5])
On behalf of the Maven team
Matthias
[1]: https://maven.apache.org/whatsnewinmaven4.html#consumer-pom
[2]: https://maven.apache.org/whatsnewinmaven4.html#model-version-4-1-0
[3]: https://github.com/apache/maven/pull/13656
[4]: https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/h6d7wgq54fr84rmd65bddnwhwnxc7g62
[5]: https://www.javaadvent.com/2021/12/from-maven-3-to-maven-5.html
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