Describe DistutilsVersionFight here.
Larry Hastings
Sorry for the crazy moon proposal here, but I have example code that I think even works. (Though I'm not operating on enough sleep, so sorry 'cause I already know the code is crappy.) lch.version.py
The basic idea: * A version string should be transformable into a version tuple. * Version tuples are tuples of arbitrary length containing only integers. * A version tuple conceptually ends with an infinite number of 0 fields; (1,3) == (1, 3, 0, 0, 0) * While you see integers, accumulate them, and when it's done int(). * While you see alphanumerics, accumulate them, and when it's done map it if it's a known string ("alpha", "beta") otherwise break up the characters into individual numbers. * Pre-releases (alpha, beta) are represented by having a negative number in the version tuple. * When you compare version tuples, if there are any negative fields, split there and compare the non-negative parts first.
I doubt y'all will go for this. But I thought you should at least consider supporting a more flexible format. People like to express their version numbers a wide variety of ways, and most folks could find a way to map their personal weird approach to something this approach would make consistent.