Thanks for the input. I’m not completely familiar with the automatic update code, but there’s quite a lot.
Channels describes that 2016 design in user terms, and we probably want to keep something like that.
Changing to something different from a version number plus channel is of unknown difficulty to me. I’m unsure how separate they are – accidental 2.0.4.3 Beta after 2.0.4.3 Canary was fixed by 2.0.4.5 Beta.
Whether or not build changes can fit into the scheme hasn’t specifically been discussed, but the use of multiple branches has been slightly discussed – and part of the challenge is a volunteer to cherry-pick. Currently the focus is on getting a long-awaited Beta out, then perhaps more process work is possible.
Issues to address to get out of beta pointed to some specific somewhat complex schemes. There was also a post pointing to Discussion: release cycle. There is disagreement over how hard it is to manage, so for the moment the one way to stabilize seems to be to slow down for awhile on less critical change.
If this means in your own work, where you’re quite aware of everything, that’s how Duplicati once was, however Duplicati has been growing into a multi-person (with a too-tiny value of multi) for some time…
Stay tuned and we’ll see what happens. Sometimes good volunteers join and things become less tight.