The current perl module versioning (5.0301001) seems bit cumbersome and susceptible to error/confusion - perhaps because I did not find any documented policy on version compatibility and maintenance and missed previous discussions.
The following is a proposed scheme and policy to simplify and clarify the behavior or perl module versioning wrt to net-snmp release versioning. The model provided by dynamic library usage seems to capture the relationship between the SNMP module and the net-snmp library with which it links. As long as proper discipline is shown in the evolution of libsnmp the perl module can use a fixed logic for determining if a given libsnmp release is compatible certain assumptions can make managing the version numbers easier, more flexible without any loss of capability and a reasonable degree of protection against inadvertent incompatibility. assumptions: 0) it is not a good thing to change a version number on source that has not changed - even worse not to change the version stamp on source that has changed. 1) it is good to have as high a degree of similarity between perl mod version numbers and the net-snmp version numbers with which it is bundled (within the constraint that perl modules are restricted (highly encouraged) to use a float format for version numbers - the real culprit here). 2) the perl module is released is rev'd less frequently than the net-snmp package as a whole (and certainly released to CPAN with less frequency then net-snmp releases) 3) users may want up upgrade either a perl module or libsnmp without changing the other (though not recommended - users will want this flexibility where possible) so how about this as versioning scheme perl module version number will, by release policy, match the net-snmp package version number for major and minor release, but be allowed to rev relatively independently for micro-release. for example net-snmp 5.3.1 => perl SNMP 5.03 or 5.0302 or 5.0399 this still devotes 2 decimal places to minor rev. and the next 2 decimal places to track perl module micro releases. It eliminates the 3 decimal place sub-micro rev altogether. the makefile would ignore differences other than major and minor rev. Major or minor rev. differences would elicit a complaint. Version munge need not touch perl module versions for micro releases unless something has changed. on major and minor releases it would set corresponding perl floatized version and reset the perl module micro release to zero. specific exceptional dependencies can always be enforced at perl runtime by examining NetSnmpVersionInfo (properly exported). thoughts? -G ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Take Surveys. Earn Cash. Influence the Future of IT Join SourceForge.net's Techsay panel and you'll get the chance to share your opinions on IT & business topics through brief surveys - and earn cash http://www.techsay.com/default.php?page=join.php&p=sourceforge&CID=DEVDEV _______________________________________________ Net-snmp-coders mailing list Net-snmp-coders@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/net-snmp-coders
