A nice alternative to software versions

[Omer Zak]

The following blog article (I am using the Wayback link because the
original article seems to have been overwritten by other stuff) proposes
specifying software compatibility by means of contracts rather than by
means of software versions:

https://web.archive.org/web/20150905145522/http://hintjens.com/blog:85

As I was reading the article, I thought that the Debian virtual package
mechanism can be co-opted for specifying contracts rather than versions.
This is by having a virtual package name correspond to each contract.

This way, a package advertises that it implements a contract by
declaring that it "provides" the corresponding virtual package. A
package declares that it requires an implementation of a contract by
"requiring" the corresponding virtual package.

--- Omer



-- 
cal 09 1752
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