Re: [Monotone-devel] interface versions, again

[Thomas Moschny]

Thomas Keller wrote:
> So, to make a long story short I propose that interface versions are
> _not_ changed by individual developers up until the next release and
> that the release manager rather takes care of the numbering, just
> because he gets the ultimative overview what has been added / changed
> when he writes the NEWS file.

You gave good arguments why this is the only viable way.

On the other hand, there's a downside: People using automate against a 
devel version (e.g. for testing the newly implemented features) will see 
wrong (i.e. too low) interface version.

This dilemma is imho inherent to the numerical schema we currently use. 
I think I've proposed that before, but what would solve the issue is a 
keyword based interface version. So, instead of one numerical value, the 
interface version call would return a list of keywords, each of them 
specifying an sub functionality of the automate protocol, implemented by 
that server.

This way new or changed functionality can be advertised immediately and 
independently of other parts of the protocol.

- Thomas