[Bioc-devel] Proposed version bump plan for 1.7 release

[Seth Falcon]

Hi all,

Our users need to be able to tell the difference between the 
release and development versions of all packages.  

The version numbers need to allow separate, non-overlapping
incrementing for both release and devel.

Here is what we propose to do for the upcoming 1.7 release:

0. All packages have an x.y.z version number

1. All packages in the 1.7 release will be bumped to x.(y+1).0.  This
   will communicate to users that the package is part of the release
   and has been verified to work with R 2.2.0.

2. Once the release branch has been made, all packages will be bumped
   to x.(y+2).0 to indicate the beginning of the BioC 1.8 devel line.

Under this proposal, we will execute the version bumps centrally as
opposed to having package maintainers do it.

No version bump plan will be without disadvantages.  We are open
to other suggestions that:

- Make clear what packages are in the release
- Provide a scheme to track devel and release "patches"
  simultaneously.

We will need to come to a consensus quickly.  In sharing your opinion,
please keep in mind the "bikeshed" phenomenon: "Some people have
commented that the amount of noise generated by a change is inversely
proportional to the complexity of the change" [1].


Best,

+ seth

[1] http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/faq/misc.html#BIKESHED-PAINTING