In an episode of TuxRadar they asked: Does Version numbers count? My response: Yes. Why? Read on.
Quite a few Open Source software on the Linux platform is in version 0.x.x., and after listening to the episode I started to wonder why. Why is InkScape in version 0.47, when I think that the software is way beyond the 1.0 mark?
Reason: The specifications for the 1.0 version is to extensive. I think the developers of InkScape should change the version number to 4.7 which is a more likely number.
So when is a software ready to be called 1.0? Depends on the software really, but as a general rule I think that the main features for the program should be in place. I’ve long wanted to create a photo organization software based on the idea and design of FotoStation – the defacto standard among Media companies in Norway – and other countries. So when would I say that this software is in version 1.0?
Let’s analyze: This will going to be a photo organization software, so the program needs to be able to import and index photos. You should also be able to view thumbnails of the photos and when clicking on one picture, you should be able to view a bigger version of it. That’s pretty much a raw description of a 1.0 version of the software. It does what’s intended. It’s the core version. This is the self-tested, friends-tested version. And it is the 1.0 version of the software.
So then I publish it. And maybe some will start using it and I get bug reports in return. I start fixing the bugs and you are in version 1.0.1, 1.0.2 and so on. Then I’ll probably get feature requests. I will consider these closely. And I start building up a roadmap for version 1.5 (maybe), 2.0, 3.0 and so on.
I think the Linux distributions should start creating some guidelines when it comes to version numbers. And I think they also should start having a policy that no versions below 1.0 should be in our repository. Those that are below 1.0 should be in the development-repository.
