The Core Problem with Parrot Version Numbers

[Todd Olson]

At 19:20 -0500 2009-02-19, Andy Dougherty wrote:
>On a related note, this is an issue of more than cosmetic import.  Parrot
>will ship using versioned directories.  Criteria for using those
>directories will eventually emerge.  Projects that build upon parrot may
>well wish to embrace a similar versioning structure.  This is an
>opportunity to make parrot's versions easier to parse, specify, compare,
>and understand than those that are handled by perl 5's version.pm.

+1

By design, Parrot is a substrate for other software.
I remain concerned that outside users needs for version management are not met,
but that may just be ignorance on my part.

Is there a convention I can automate against that enables me, a user/consumer,
to classify the 'interface' differences between two versions of Parrot as one of
      two-way-compatible
      one-way-compatible
      no-way-compatible
?????

Maybe the release number is not the right vehicle for meeting those needs.


Regards,
Todd