[gdal-dev] Bumping SONAME from beta1 to RC1?

[Greg Troxel]

Even Rouault via gdal-dev <gdal-dev at lists.osgeo.org> writes:

> probably more a question for packagers. There have been a few ABI
> changes (virtual method addition) in the C++ API since beta1. Would
> bumping the SONAME be seen as a must do or an annoyance?

My take is

  - one should not package beta/rc versions
    + of course, one must, for dysfunctional upstreams that release a
      beta and never release the final, but gdal follows the rules
    + one packages them to test but not publish; I mean "should not
      package/distribute"
  - people building from source should be able to deal with things like
    this, just like at any other time between releases
  - the less changes the better, once the beta->rc->release train starts

which leads to don't worry, don't bump.  Especially if it's an API/ABI
addition.  The real problem is changes/withdrawals anyway.