Skeletons contain code to check whether certain software is present on the system, but it is impractical if one single skeleton must be able to detect all versions of the software it represents.
Sometimes, you will need to change the skeleton file. Because of that, skeleton files have a version number as well. This is a single integer value that increments in steps of one. The number has no related to any other version number, it is purely there to allow you to distinguish between different sets of metadata for the software.
Table 5.3. Software & Interface Number with Skeleton Filename
Software | Interface number | Skeleton filename |
---|---|---|
GTK+ 1.2.0 | 0.0 | skeleton.0 |
GTK+ 2.0.0 | 1.0 | skeleton.1 (gtk has a new soname) |
GTK+ 2.2.0 | 1.1 | skeleton.2 (oops, bug in skeleton) |
Be aware that skeleton.2 must be able to detect GTK+ 2.2.0 and 1.2.0 too. A skeleton must always be able to detect all known versions of the software, simply to keep things sane.