Re: epoch

[Ian Peters <itp ximian com>]

On 09 Jul 2001 12:38:21 -0400, Alan Eldridge wrote:
> Jeff, can you give a quick, Reader's Digest summary of epoch, and when you
> should or shouldn't use it?

Just to second everything that's been said so far, I suggest you view
epochs as a necessary evil.  There are valid reasons for them to exist,
they are useful in certain circumstances, but they generally serve to
confuse users and should be used as sparingly as possible.

In general, any time you find yourself thinking of using an epoch, ask
yourself if there's any other way you can solve the problem you're
facing.  Remember, when you use an epoch in a package that gets widely
distributed, you in some ways force everyone else who packages the same
software to update their package to match.

--
Ian Peters      "...it is 5 am and the sun has charred the other
itp@gnu.org      side of the earth and come back to us and painted
itp@ximian.com   the smoke over our heads an imperial violet..."