Why the 0.x notation for software?

[fishyMishy]

Why do some many open source projects insist on using the 0.x notation to identify their software? An example is DC++. Although it is much better than the original DC and is a fully functional application, it is still at version 0.232. Why not dump 0.x notation after some time and go for version 1 or 2003 etc.

While on the topic, is there a good web site on software versioning? It seems to me that there are no real rules...

[fernandez]

Try the following url, it looks like there are no specific rules.

http://www.experts-exchange.com/Operating_Systems/Win95_3x/Win95/Q_10220877.html

[endersgame21]

I think they do that so you know that what version of the original program the open souce program is based on. That way if the original program comes out with a newer edition that has stuff that the open source program doesn't have, you know why.

[Theinfamousone]

Yeah, that makes sense.

Plus, they don't have to do marketing like AOL does. AOL 8.0 seems so much cooler than 7.0 which is ancient, therefore everyone will upgrade. But DC doesn't have to worry about getting people excited so they just need to move from version .232 to .233. That was worded kind of badly, but I hope you see what I'm talking about.

[phalkon30]

Originally posted by Theinfamousone
Yeah, that makes sense.

Plus, they don't have to do marketing like AOL does. AOL 8.0 seems so much cooler than 7.0 which is ancient, therefore everyone will upgrade. But DC doesn't have to worry about getting people excited so they just need to move from version .232 to .233. That was worded kind of badly, but I hope you see what I'm talking about.
Yeah, notice how MSN 8 just popped out of nowhere? where were all the versions before that?? versions numbers have lost a lot of meaning really, AOL hasn't helped

I also think, for betas, its below 1.0, 1.0 is the first stable version, and then after that only MAJOR improvements warrant 2.0 etc, winamp is a good example of this system, spybot is another