port release candidate versioning question

[Ryan Schmidt]

> On Aug 17, 2020, at 15:11, Arno Hautala wrote:
> 
> 
>> On 17 Aug 2020, at 15:40, Ryan Schmidt wrote:
>> 
>> We do not recommend setting the epoch to a date-like value. Simply use an increasing integer value. Its default value is 0. The first time you need to increase it, set it to 1; the second time, set it to 2, etc.
> 
> Is there any specific reason to _not_use a date-like value? It always struck me as a nice way to keep track of how the epoch has been changed, but I suppose it does add additional complexity for limited utility; or none, given that the Portfile date is available from source control.

Take a look at the swi-prolog portfile, for example.

https://github.com/macports/macports-ports/blob/master/lang/swi-prolog/Portfile

Its epoch is 20051223.

What is the benefit to anyone in being able to presume (but of course not to know for certain without inspecting the git log/blame) that the epoch was last changed in the port 15 years ago?

I updated the guide 9 years ago with the recommendation not to format the epoch as a date.

https://github.com/macports/macports-guide/commit/f0f255450b5ddcc5a5fc7cbe7fc61a6a942e3773