Pre-release Versions
In conjunction with the various versioning schemes listed above, a system for denoting pre-release versions is generally used, as the program makes its way through the stages of the software release life cycle. Programs that are in an early stage are often called "alpha" software, after the first letter in the Greek alphabet. After they mature but are not yet ready for release, they may be called "beta" software, after the second letter in the Greek alphabet. Generally alpha software is tested by developers only, while beta software is distributed for community testing. Alpha- and beta-version software is often given numerical versions less than 1 (such as 0.9), to suggest their approach toward a final "1.0" release. However, if the pre-release version is for an existing software package (e.g. version 2.5), then an "a" or "alpha" may be appended to the version number. So the alpha version of the 2.5 release might be identified as 2.5a or 2.5.a. Software packages which are soon to be released as a particular version may carry that version tag followed by "rc-#", indicating the number of the release candidate. When the version is actually released, the "rc" tag disappears.
This can apparently cause trouble for some package managers, though. The fictitious Rivendell radio broadcast automation package, for example, is about to have to release its first full production release package... v1.0.1, because if they called it v1.0.0, RPM would refuse to install it, because the algorithm sorts "1.0.0" lower than "1.0.0rc2" (which is because version comparison algorithms are generally language-agnostic and thus don't know the meaning of "rc").
Read more about this topic: Software Versioning
Famous quotes containing the word versions:
“The assumption must be that those who can see value only in tradition, or versions of it, deny man’s ability to adapt to changing circumstances.”
—Stephen Bayley (b. 1951)