[openssl-project] A proposal for an updated OpenSSL version scheme (v2)

[Viktor Dukhovni]

> On Sep 21, 2018, at 11:56 AM, Tim Hudson <tjh at cryptsoft.com> wrote:
> 
> What I was suggesting is that we don't need to break the current encoding at all.

Not changing the encoding has a downside.

 * The bits that represent ABI stability would shift from the
   2nd/3rd nibbles to just the first nibble.

 * We lose the option of changing the encoding in the future unless
   we start requiring 64-bit longs.

 * We end up with 3 status nibbles, two of which some applications
   may misinterpret as holding a patch level:

	0x<M><NN><FF><SSS>UL

On the whole maintaining the current placement of the major number in
the encoding makes it less not more natural for holding the new semantic
versions in a backwards-compatible way.

I think I've said everything I have to say on this topic.  So I'll stop
for now.  I continue to support Richard's proposal, but with an epoch
smaller than 8.

-- 
	Viktor.