[Zope3-dev] release numbering

[Martijn Faassen]

Hi there,

This was previously hidden in a message on certification, so I'll 
extract it here, since I think it's worth at least some discussion since 
Zope X3.1 is coming up.

That's my first point; can we just please call it, tag it, branch it, as 
Zope-X3.1, not ZopeX3-3.1(.0)?

Why do we need to name "3" twice in the release name? I never quite 
understood why we're saying Zope X Three Three Dot One, and not just 
Zope X Three Dot One. It's fairly confusing, I think.

Okay, the previous issue should be discussed without too much 
controversy, so can we please discuss it separately without this letting 
interfere, which is going to court a bit of controversy:

The only non-standard part left in the release name if we drop the 
double 3 is the X. The X is a bit of a bother and will get us into 
trouble anyway eventually if a Zope 3 proper is ever released, as I 
can't see how we'd avoid situations where we'd have to say: "Zope 3.1 is 
actually Zope X3.4 + Zope 2 compatibility extensions 0.7", which sounds 
less than ideal. I personally wouldn't mind if we just dropped the X.

So, can we drop the X? It's messing about with our release numbering 
anyway, first the X was after the three, then before. If not, when can 
we conceivably drop it? It's also not good marketing to say the X stands 
for experimental. This means I need to tell my customers "Oh, yeah, this 
is experimental software, but you're fine!", and I don't want to. You'd 
think Zope 3 would stop being experimental about now.

I realize it's slightly ironic as I say all this as someone who released 
Five Point Three. :)

Regards,

Martijn