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5.2 DGD Version Numbers

DGD changes almost constantly, but the changes are usually small. The maintainer, Felix Croes (who uses the handle 'Dworkin'), fixes small problems and puts in code for new features all the time. However, it's important to know what versions of DGD are good, usable and stable since all these constant fixes can make the driver temporarily unstable.

Dworkin addresses these problems by having major DGD versions, stable DGD versions, and experimental DGD versions. Major versions are numbered 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, et cetera. The major version after 1.2 will then be either 1.3 or 2.0. The major version after 3.4, if there eventually is a 3.4, will be either 3.5 or 4.0. Major versions indicate several years of effort on Dworkin's part. Between 1996 and 2004, the major version went from 1.0 to 1.2.

Stable versions come out much more frequently than major versions. Usually stable versions will be numbered by patch. So, for instance, major version 1.2 gave rise to stable versions 1.2p1, 1.2p2 and 1.2p3. These are called version 1.2 patchlevel 1, version 1.2 patchlevel 2, and version 1.2 patchlevel 3, respectively. If you need to do ordinary DGD development, the most recent stable version or major version (whichever came out more recently) should be used.

When Dworkin puts out those little updates every week or two (or occasionally more), he puts out experimental versions of DGD. Experimental versions are numbered as the major version, but with an extra number at the end. So the experimental versions of 1.2 would be 1.2.1, 1.2.2, 1.2.3, et cetera, up to 1.2.71 and beyond. Dworkin released over a hundred experimental 1.1 versions before version 1.2 came out!

Each stable version is usually the same as one specific experimental version. So when a really stable, tested experimental version comes out, Dworkin will release it, slightly modified, as a stable version. So, for instance, if Dworkin were on experimental version 2.0.53 and the last stable version had been 2.0p2, then he might choose to rerelease 2.0.53 as 2.0p3 after light testing. These are hypothetical examples, though those version numbers are likely to occur eventually.

Experimental DGD versions will often have new features and slightly different interfaces. For instance, DGD began allowing more incoming network connections in version 1.2.45. This means that code written for experimental versions from 1.2.45 onward won't work on DGD 1.2.44 and before. So new code written for experimental versions tends to be very tied to what DGD version you have. Older code, though, tends to work just fine with newer DGD versions, with a few exceptions. In general, it's easy to get them to work if you're a decent programmer and willing to do a little work. The old interfaces rarely change and never change very dramatically.