Hello All !

I've invented a new appendix and added it to my Max.doc for future reference. It may become part of the next release in 10 or 15 years :)

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Appendices 484



Appendix I: The Maximus version number

This section describes the Maximus version numbering system.

The "Maximus version" (version) number is denoted as follows,

<ma>.<mi>[<.i>[<.ir>]][<-p>]

where the following meanings apply,

ma Major release number
mi Minor release number
i Implementation number
ir Implementation release number
p Patch level

"Release" is synonymous to "stable version".

"Team" refers to the Maximus developers and/or maintainers.

All changes made should be documented in whatsnew.xxx and
changes.txt in each distribution archive.

Stable versions have no hyphen (-) anywhere in the version
number.

The implementation (i) number if present, is incremented for
each significant new feature.

The implementation release (ir) number if present, applies
specifically to the implementation, and is reset when the
implementation (i) number is incremented.

The patch level (p) if present, applies to the whole version
and is incremented whenever any reported bugs or known
problems are fixed, or a very small feature (not enough to
justify an implementation (i) number increase) is optimised,
changed or added. One increment in the patch level (p) number
could address multiple bugs or problem fixes or small
additions.

To qualify a patch level (p) as a release, a period of 12
months must pass without change in the patch level (p).
The decision to make any version a release lies with the
team. If they decide to turn a patched version into a
release, then this is done by incrementing the implementation
release (ir) number and dropping <-p> from the version
number. Please refer to examples below.

Eventhough a patch level is turned into a release, the
contents of the release distribution archive may differ
slightly from the previous patch level archive due to last
minute changes to documentation for example.

A zero "0" integer in any quartet of the version number
indicates no changes for that section.

Patches can be offered for specific versions at the
descretion of the team, but only the latest version is
supported. Users are generally encouraged to upgrade to the
latest version.

Table I.1 lists some examples:

Table I.1 Maximus version number examples

Version Description

3.02-8 Unstable version, where eight patches were applied to version
3.02, suggesting that there were bugs fixed or optmisations
made in minor release 02. There were no new features.

3.02.123 Stable version with 123 new features since minor release 02.

3.02.123-12 Unstable version, with 12 patches issued for bugs effecting
_any_ of the 123 new features since minor release 02.

3.02.123.1 The first stable version for all 123 new features of minor
release 02, after no patches have been issued for over 12
months. Woohoo !

3.02.123.1-1 Unstable version, where bugs were found and fixed in the
3.02.123.1 release.

3.02.123.2 The second stable version for all 123 new features of minor
release 02, after no patches have been issued for over 12
months since the previous patch level.

3.02.0.1 Stable version, but no new features since minor release 02.
The "0" in the 3rd quartet indicates there have been no new
features since minor release 02 and the "1" in the last (4th)
quartet indicates the 1st release since a patch was issued
over 12 months ago for minor release 02.

3.02.0.6-4 Unstable version, where bugs were found and fixed since the
previous unstable version 3.02.0.6-3. And there have still
been _no_ new features since minor release 02. Twelve months
must pass without bug reports or changes before we can
qualify for release status 3.02.0.7.

3.02.0.7 Stable version. This version number suggests a rock-solid,
thoroughly tested and very mature release because there have
been atleast 7 years worth of implementation releases while
_no_ new features have been added since minor release 02.

3.02.123.7 Stable version. This version number suggests a rock-solid,
thoroughly tested and very mature release because there have
been atleast 7 years worth of implementation releases while
no new features have been added to the _existing_ 123 since
minor release 02.

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