{{{> Depends: foo (>= 1.2.3), foo (<< 1.2.4~) > or > Depends: foo (>= 1.2.3), foo (<< 1.2.3.0~) > > Julian

% dpkg --compare-versions 1.2.3.0 ">>" 1.2.3a && echo yes yes

Upstream might go crazy and add a text string to the verion. Or not so crazy if you compare it to 1.2-3etch1.

A version ending in a digit can be extended by 'a~' while a version ending in a letter should use '1~'.}}}

{{{Etch shipped with 4.2.1-2+b1 packages.

$ dpkg --compare-versions "4.2.1-2+b1" ">>" "4.2.1-2etch1" && echo yes yes

Perhaps that should have been 4.2.1-2+etch1?}}}