Subject: Re: bug#25590: Remove build number from emacs-version variable

From: Noam Postavsky <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 6 Feb 2017 15:24:26 -0500

On Mon, Feb 6, 2017 at 2:38 PM, Eli Zaretskii <[email-masked]> wrote:
>> >> > It's actually part of a version number (which many other projects
>> >> > have, e.g., GDB just released version 7.12.1), except that we never
>> >> > release such versions, they exist only on end-users' machines.  Other
>> >> > than that, there's nothing in it which is special to Emacs.
>> >>
>> >> I don't understand the comparison. A micro version number
>> >> (major.minor.micro) is not the same thing as Emacs's build number.
>> >
>> > I think it is.
>> >
>>
>> GDB 7.12.1 is a public release, the official NEWS file documents the
>> differences between that and 7.12. For Emacs, there is no well-defined
>> difference between 25.1.1 and 25.1.2, it could be different for every
>> person who builds it.
>
> Isn't that what I said above?

Hmm, yeah, I suppose so. I guess this seems like such a big difference
in meaning to me that it's a bit absurd to say GDB's micro version is
any sense "the same" as Emacs' build number. As in: they are the same
except that they are completely different.

Putting philosophy aside: the proposal would make the build number
look different from a micro version, which should help stop users
unfamiliar with Emacs development practice getting confused into
thinking that the build number denotes a released version like a micro
version does. I think this is a good idea.