How are USGS scientific software information products versioned? [135]

USGS scientific software information products should follow semantic versioning. The semantic version number assigned to a USGS scientific software information product must be one of the versions of the associated open-source software development project. Software project development may continue following the publication of an associated USGS scientific software information product. The software project may create subsequent versions; however, the USGS scientific software information product is only associated with the version number assigned to it at the time of its publication. Such subsequent versions are considered development milestone markers within the open-source software development project. These versions must be accompanied by the provisional software disclaimer from FSP until they meet the approval requirements for a USGS scientific software information product (refer to NEW-10 for review details). New USGS scientific software information products may be assigned one of these new version numbers; however, an existing USGS scientific software information product version is never changed.