Tarek Ziadé <[email protected]> writes:
> There's a consensus on this in most packaging system out there, and
> the goal is to have a rational version system that is understandable
> by most packagers so they can work with python projects versions.
Have you actually read the version comparison specifications of other
packaging systems? How do you think they compare to the current draft
specification here?
Those that do specify are *much* more obvious and simple in their
comparison of individual components than what is currently in the
‘distutilsversion’ specification. Usually it's a simple case of “once
we've got the individual components of a version string, they compare
alphanumerically”.
> I don't think alphanumeric comparison is what most would expect.
I think it's far more likely to be what someone would expect than any
other *specific* arbitrary ordering of words that is chosen. You make
this point yourself in the current draft:
… it is much preferable if the versioning spec is such that a human
can make a reasonable attempt at that sorting without having to run
it against some code.
What evidence is there that some arbitrary ordering of specific sets of
words is going to be correctly guessed by such a person than a simple
“alphanumeric ordering” specification?
> For example if you use dates for your version, it'll work perfeclty
> with alphanumeric comparison but Fedora packagers will fail at sorting
> your versions properly.
I don't see how this is relevant. I'm not talking about removing the
need for dividing a version string into separately-comparable
components. That's clearly useful, and anyway is pretty uncontroversial
and widespread.
I'm arguing that, having got those components, and needing to compare
them *within an individual component position* for ordering, the best
candidate for “simple to describe and remember, and obvious to guess”
is that the components are compared alphanumerically with no special
exceptions.
--
\ “An idea isn't responsible for the people who believe in it.” |
`\ —Donald Robert Perry Marquis |
_o__) |
Ben Finney
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