Release? [WAS: Re: Xffm issues]

[Mike Makonnen]

On 19 Apr 2003 19:23:53 +0200
Olivier Fourdan <fourdan at xfce.org> wrote:

> Mike,
> 
> No, there is no reason for that. Why would we have to increase the
> version number of all modules when one gets updated ? That doesn't make
> sense.

No, what I meant was if you have release XFCE4 ver. 1.0 then all the
libraries/modules for that release should be ver. 1.0, not that all library
versions be bumped when one was bumped. Then, if a library version needs bumping
because of a bug fix or something, the minor version gets bumped.

> 
> As for the user to keep tracks of versions, (s)he just have to get the
> latest of each module.
> 

Yes, in an ideal world that would work. But this is not an ideal world :) XFCE4
has to coexist in a world with other applications with different life-cycles.
This is were independent modules can be a pain. As Xfce4 matures and as it
continues to evolve the xfce modules it depends on will start to diverge from
the modules that other third-party software depends on. So, essentially the
versions of the modules a particular version of Xfce4 depends on will start
to conflict with the modules that other apps depend on. This means people will
start choosing to upgrade only some components of the system and not others
because of compatibility or bug issues. Inevitably sooner or later you will end
up with a mini dll-hell of your own. For you as developers it's not a problem,
but it will become a problem for us users.

It may be that the relatively manageable size of the Xfce4 project makes this a
non-issue. So, this kind of scenario might be less likely to materialize.

I guess this is really a plea to not break out the various components into
independent modules more than anything else. I'm finding it hard to express
exactly and clearly my feelings on this subject so I'll just shut up now, untill
I can express them more clearly.

In any case, the sooner XFCE4 sees the light of day (in whatever form) the
better.


Cheers.
-- 
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