Stuart Henderson writes: > EPOCH isn't really a problem, the main thing (apart from ugly version > numbers in PKGNAME) is that it can give some surprises with version > specs in dependencies/@conflict lines/etc.
Yes, EPOCH is a necessary thing sometimes and not a "problem." Besides its effect on version specs, it's also confusing to some people (who think it's like REVISION and gets removed on update, etc.). I try to avoid EPOCH generally, but I don't try too hard.
