A Guide to Software Revisions
     
                          v1.0 / 03 Jan 1996 / gvg
     
            Posted on Rec.Humor By: Greg Goebel (gvg AT lvld.hp.com)
             Archived By: Derek J. Cashman (cashman AT cs.odu.edu)
     
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Once you start playing with software you quickly become aware that each 
software package has a revision code attached to it. It is obvious that this 
revision code gives the sequence of changes to the product, but in reality 
there's substantially more information available through the rev code than 
that. This article provdes a guide for interpreting the meaning of the 
revision codes and what they actually signify.
     
1.0:
     
Also known as "one point uh-oh", or "barely out of beta". We had to release 
because the lab guys had reached a point of exhaustion and the marketing
guys were in a cold sweat of terror. We're praying that you'll find it more 
functional than, say, a computer virus and that its operation has some 
resemblance to that specified in the marketing copy.
     
1.1:
     
We fixed all the killer bugs ...
     
1.2:
     
Uh, we introduced a few new bugs fixing the killer bugs and so we had to
fix them, too.
     
2.0:
     
We did the product we really wanted to do to begin with. Mind you, it's 
really not what the customer needs yet, but we're working on it.
     
2.1:

Well, not surprisingly, we broke some things in making major changes so we 
had to fix them. But we did a really good job of testing this time, so we 
don't think we introduced any new bugs while we were fixing these bugs.
     
2.2:
     
Uh, sorry, one slipped through. One lousy typo error and you won't believe 
how much trouble it caused!
     
2.3:
     
Some anal-retentive pain in the ass found a deep-seated bug that's been 
there since 1.0 and has been raising hell until we fixed it!!
     
3.0:
     
Hey, we finally think we've got it right! Most of the customers are really 
happy with this.
     
3.1:
     
Of course, we did break a few little things.
     
4.01:
     
More features. It's doubled in size now, by the way, and you'll need to get 
more memory and a faster processor ...
     
4.1:
     
Just one or two bugs this time... Honest!
     
5.0:
     
We really need to go on to a new product, but we have an installed base
out there to protect. We're cutting the staffing after this.
     
6.0:
     
We had to fix a few things we broke in 5.0. Not very many, but it's been
so long since we looked at this thing we might as well call it a major
upgrade. Oh, yeah, we added a few flashy cosmetic features so we could 
justify the major upgrade number.
     
6.1:
     
Since I'm leaving the company and I'm the last guy left in the lab who works 
on the product, I wanted to make sure that all the changes I've made are
incorporated before I go. I added some cute demos, too, since I was getting 
pretty bored back here in my dark little corner (I kept complaining about 
the lighting but they wouldn't do anything). They're talking about 
obsolescence planning but they'll try to keep selling it for as long as 
there's a buck or two to be made. I'm leaving the bits in as good a shape as 
I can in case somebody has to tweak them, but it'll be sheer luck if no
one loses them.