---
sidebar_position: 2
title: "1"
description: "Defines StarOpenSource's versioning system"
---

# Version 1

## Format
The StarOpenSource versioning system has four so called **vectors**. These are: **Release**, **Type**, **Typerelease** and **Fork**.
### Release
This the release number and should be used for major changes. It's equivalent to the major and minor numbers in the semantic versioning system. It starts at 1.
### Type
This can be one of four types: **Release** (**r**), **Releasecandidate** (**rc**), **Beta** (**b**) and **Alpha** (**a**)
### Typerelease
This should be the number of releases, releasecandidates, betas or alphas in your current release. It starts at 0.
### Fork
This should be used for identifying forks. This is most commonly used in a soft fork. You can leave this one empty.

## Converting to SemVer
You can convert the StarOpenSource versioning system into the semantic versioning system.
### tl;dr
```
SOSVS:
 Release: 5
 Type: Releasecandidate
 Typerelease: 7
 Fork: example
Semantic: 5.2.7-example
```
### Major
The major number is equal to the release number. You don't need to change anything here.
### Minor
The minor number should be set to the type. Set this to **3** for releases, **2** for releasecandidates, **1** for betas and finally to **0** for alphas.
### Patch
The patch number is the same as the typerelease number. Again, you don't need to change anything here.
### Fork
Simply append a dash and then your fork to SemVer.

## Comparison
This table compares features between this specification, semantic versioning and simply increasing a build number without any modification.
<table>
  <tr>
    <th>Feature</th>
    <th>SOSVS</th>
    <th>SemVer</th>
    <th>Build number</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th>Easy to understand</th>
    <th>Yes</th>
    <th>Yes</th>
    <th>Yes</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th>Compatible w/ SemVer</th>
    <th>Yes</th>
    <th><a href="https://piped.staropensource.de/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ">⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀</a></th> <!-- Let's rickroll those idiots -->
    <th>No</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th>Version type identification</th>
    <th>Yes</th>
    <th>No</th>
    <th>No</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th>Has alpha/beta/rc/release built-in</th>
    <th>Yes</th>
    <th>Only 'pre-release'</th>
    <th>No</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th>Forks</th>
    <th>Yes</th>
    <th>Yes</th>
    <th>No</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th>Highlights incompatibilities</th>
    <th>Partial</th>
    <th>Yes</th>
    <th>No</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th>Build number</th>
    <th>No</th>
    <th>Yes</th>
    <th>Yes</th>
  </tr>
</table>