incomplete programs
 

Every time I go to find a program I look at the version number and they are (almost) all pre version 1.0, why is that? why doesnt anyone go help the authors out? I would if I knew more about programming (Im learning right now). Arent we all on the same side here? Lets get everything working the way it should!!!

ampex189

There are some people philosophically opposed to calling a release 1.0, since there are nearly always features to be added, and bugs are still lurking. The author of Sodipodi, for example, has said that there will never be a 1.0 release.

Steve

why would some people be philosophically against calling a release 1.0? sorry I just dont understand that. all it means, in my opinion, is that it is ready for others to use it, that the bugs are worked out of it, and that they are ready to go onto another program. besides, they are just numbers. but I still find it a little discouraging when I get something pre1.0, sorta like I am jumping the gun, sneaking in and working something before it is finished.

Read the link I gave. The point is that software is never "finished"; there are always bugs, and developers stick with the same program for years. Calling something 1.0 in the commercial world is so that you can start charging money for it. In open-source software, things are constantly being tinkered on.

I'm not saying that I subscribe to this point of view, only that it exists. I prefer the x.EvenNumber for user releases and x.OddNumber for development releases that, for example, the GIMP uses.

But versioning is always arbitrary. The GIMP is going from 1.2 to 2.0, largely for reasons of "buzz".

Steve