Another variation on computed versions is also worth mentioning: GCC, Binutils, GDB and EGLIBC support configure options --with-pkgversion and --with-bugurl. --with-pkgversion changes the package name used in --version output (and in manuals), so you get e.g.
GNU assembler (GNU Binutils for Ubuntu) 2.19.1 rather than GNU assembler (GNU Binutils) 2.19.1 which clearly marks the binary as being a particular distributor's version without requiring every distributor to maintain their own local patch to the same code changing the package name everywhere (and, if the version string includes a local version number for the packaged version, requiring changes every time that local version number changes). --with-bugurl changes the bug reporting information in --help output (and in manuals) to point to distributor-specific bug reporting information so bug reports for the modified version are directed to the distributor - again, without requiring everyone to have their own local patch to the same code. (<http://gcc.gnu.org/wiki/ConfigVersion> describes an early version of this configuration support.) It might make sense for there to be some direct support in auto* for this feature rather than each package needing to do it locally. -- Joseph S. Myers jos...@codesourcery.com
