While I respect Mark Crispin's experience, I feel compelled to lobby in
FAVOR of version numbers.
I agree that there can be a raft of problems deciding how to behave when
the version numbers change, but after having lived through several
"versions" of "You are no longer in compliance with the ONE TRUE X
WINDOWS INTER CLIENT COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL your programs must all be
rewritten; go back and reread the book again." I'd really like to have
all new software that defines file formats and protocols to include a
version number.
If nothing else, it forces somebody to write down what the changes are
for conformance to the new version number, and what, if any,
compatibility problems there will be.
Please Please Please! Keep version numbers.
Bill Cattey