Re: For those who care about their packages in Ubuntu

[Thomas Bushnell BSG <tb@becket.net>]

Matt Zimmerman <mdz@ubuntu.com> writes:

>> > Why is it now important to you that the version numbers be changed,
>> > though?  This is only an issue when mixing packages between different
>> > derivatives, which already breaks in other subtle ways, so I'm not very
>> > much inclined to try to un-break it in this particular way, given that
>> > it's non-trivial.
>> 
>> At least to avoid namespace conflict between Debian and Ubuntu .deb files.
>
> That seems like an abstract goal; what actual problem would be solved?

1) Developers would know immediately the origin of the package, making
   it easier to track down and identify tool-chain-dependent bugs and
   the like.

2) As Miles pointed out, version numbers are quite visible to users,
   so users would see and be reminded of the origin of the package.

3) Tools could automatically use the tag to detect inter-distribution
   mixing and warn.

Thomas