Debian version numbers and strcmp()

[Adeodato Simó <dato@net.com.org.es>]

Hello,

I'd like to hear from members of this list what they think about the
following issue: I just noticed that to determine whether two Debian
versions are equal, one can't use strcmp() or similar, and must
implement the full comparison algorithm. For example, 0.9 and 0.09 are
the same version according to Policy.

I'm tempted to say this is rather unfortunate: I always believed our
version numbers to be comparable for *equality* using standard tools,
and that the Policy algorithm was there just to sort different version
strings. I think this is a reasonable expectation, too. (I realize
Policy talks about "comparison".)

Is there a reason for it to be this way? Is there a reason that would
advise against changing it?

-- 
Adeodato Simó                                     dato at net.com.org.es
Debian Developer                                  adeodato at debian.org
 
- I love you, Shirley, I'm not ashamed to say.
- If you love me, then you'll want me to be happy. Even if I'm not with you.
- I don't love you that much.
                -- Denny Crane and Shirley Schmidt