Ian Jackson writes ("Re: bug#35939: version sort is incorrect with hyphen-minus"): > Paul Eggert writes ("Re: bug#35939: version sort is incorrect with > hyphen-minus"): > > GNU sort uses the same algorithm as glibc strverscmp, and this algorithm > > has > > changed only once since strverscmp was added to glibc in 1997. The change > > was > > made in 2009, to fix this bug: > > > > https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=9913 > > > > Has the Debian version-comparison algorithm changed since 1997? If so, > > could you > > give details about the changes to the Debian algorithm? Perhaps glibc > > should be > > changed to stay consistent with Debian. > > Debian introduced a special (and very useful) meaning for ~, many > years ago now. > > I checked the Debian policy manual and according to its upgrading > checklist this change was made in 2007.
I have just checked the manpage I have here for strverscmp and it is far from clear to me that the algorithm described there, and the dpkg algorithm, produce the same answers. (Even disregarding ~, and the fact that the specification of the dpkg algorithm is defined only over a subset of possible strings even though the unique extension to UTF-8 strings is fairly obvious.) -- Ian Jackson <ijack...@chiark.greenend.org.uk> These opinions are my own. If I emailed you from an address @fyvzl.net or @evade.org.uk, that is a private address which bypasses my fierce spamfilter.