[Nix-dev] RFC: NixOS version string format

[Bjørn Forsman]

Hi all,

For a long time I've felt that the NixOS version string format

VERSION "pre" NUM_COMMITS_SINCE_THE_VERY_BEGINNING

is a bit odd. It feels like a MAJOR.MINOR.PATH format, but PATCH is
every increasing. I personally would prefer the "number of commits"
number to be start over each time the version number is bumped. IMHO,
that would make it easier to reason about which version you're on.

I think such a version number format would also match nicely with what
"git describe" would print if/when we have proper annotated git tags
for releases (we should!).

Thoughts?

Best regards,
Bjørn Forsman