Some (but not all) Open Source products have a numbering system where the second number is even for a production release and odd for a development release - so if you're looking to install one of these products on a live machine for customer use, you should make sure you stick with the even release even if a later odd one is available.

Products that currently use this system include:
The Linux Kernel (2.2, 2.4 now at 2.6) [learn]
Perl (5,6, 5.8, now at 5.10) [learn fundamentals] [learn advanced] [learn for web]
Apache httpd (2.0, now at 2.2) [learn]

Open Source software has an active developer community, and the mechanism requires that there is considerable exposure given to upcoming releases for things to be added, comments made, and code tested and improved by that community, with anyone welcome to play his / her role. For this reason, you'll see a wide variety of extra releases on all open source software that's almost completely absent from commercial software. Commercial software's upcoming releases need to be kept rather private to give the authors their commercial edge, and also to ensure that orders for the current release don't dry up when potential customers say "I won't spend my money on this version - I'll buy the next one when it comes out".

You may still see Apache httpd 1.3, and Perl 5.004 and 5.005, around from time to time. In each of these cases the odd number release was a production version prior to the adoption of the "odd/even" scheme. Apache httpd 1.3 in particular is now extremely mature, but also very commonly used indeed as people don't like to upgrade a web server that's working perfectly well. "If it ain't bust, don't fix it"
(written 2008-11-21, updated 2008-11-24)

 A101 - Web Application Deployment - Linux -An Introduction For Users
  [3256] Displaying a directory or file system tree - Linux - (2011-04-22)
  [3179] Oops - I typed ci not vi, and have lost my file ... - (2011-02-21)
  [2831] Recording (a macro) in vi - (2010-06-27)
  [2636] Linux - useful tips including history and file name completion - (2010-02-15)
  [2494] Making Linux Politically correct - (2009-11-06)
  [2479] Accidentally typed ci rather than vi? - (2009-10-27)
  [2300] What does x on a linux directory mean? - (2009-07-21)
  [2299] How much space does my directory take - Linux - (2009-07-20)
  [2203] Always use su with minus. And where do programs come from? - (2009-05-27)
  [2201] Running straight from the jar, but not from a tar - (2009-05-26)
  [1904] Ruby, Perl, Linux, MySQL - some training notes - (2008-11-23)
  [1902] sstrwxrwxrwx - Unix and Linux file permissions - (2008-11-23)
  [1893] Some Linux and Unix tips - (2008-11-18)
  [1803] FTP passive mode - a sometimes cure for upload hangs - (2008-09-20)
  [1764] Yank and Push - copy and move in vi - (2008-08-21)
  [1651] ls command - favourite options - (2008-05-23)
  [1527] Selecting file names in a shell - one word or another - (2008-02-02)
  [1438] Copy and paste / cut and paste and other vi techniques - (2007-11-20)
  [1408] Wireless hotel tips - FTP and Skype connections failing - (2007-10-26)
  [1366] awk - a powerful data extraction and manipulation tool - (2007-09-25)
  [1288] Linux run states, shell special commands, and directory structures - (2007-08-03)
  [1287] Work and play at Well House Manor - Football and Shell Shortcuts - (2007-08-02)
  [1259] Where am I and how did I get here? - (2007-07-05)
  [1068] ls -l report, Linux / Unix - types and permssions - (2007-02-06)
  [1013] Copy multiple files - confusing error message from cp - (2006-12-30)
  [1012] Moving files between Windows / DOS and Linux / Unix - (2006-12-30)
  [984] Cardinal numbers and magic numbers - (2006-12-14)
  [749] Cottage industry or production line data handling methods - (2006-06-07)
  [711] THE home directory or MY home directory - (2006-05-06)
  [710] Linux training Glasgow, Python programming course Dundee - (2006-05-05)
  [703] Copying files and preserving ownership - (2006-04-28)
  [679] More or less on the edge of the page - (2006-04-11)
  [659] Web Application Components - (2006-03-28)
  [593] Finding where the disc space has gone - (2006-02-06)
  [431] File permissions of Linux and Unix systems - (2005-08-31)
  [430] Linux commands - some basics - (2005-08-31)
  [249] An easy way out - (2005-03-17)
  [152] Aladdin, or careful what you wish. - (2004-12-15)
  [74] pushd and popd - (2004-10-05)
  [73] vi - full circle - (2004-10-04)

A601 - Web Application Deployment - Apache httpd - an overview
  [2186] An FAQ on the Apache httpd and Apache Tomcat web servers, and on using them together - (2009-05-17)
  [2077] Why put Apache httpd in front of Apache Tomcat - (2009-03-12)
  [2063] Internal Dummy Connections on Apache httpd - (2009-03-02)
  [2054] Tuning httpd / the supermarket checkout comparison - (2009-02-26)
  [2038] Sticky Sessions with mod_jk (httpd to Tomcat) - (2009-02-12)
  [2016] Apache httpd and Apache Tomcat miscellany - (2009-01-30)
  [1593] Keep the client experience easy - single server contact point - (2008-03-27)
  [1265] Apache, Tomcat, Jakarta, httpd, web server - what are they? - (2007-07-13)
  [924] The LAMP Cookbook - Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP / Perl - (2006-11-13)
  [576] Why run two different web servers - (2006-01-25)

P050 - Perl - General
  [3407] Perl - a quick reminder and revision. Test yourself! - (2011-08-26)
  [3332] DNA to Amino Acid - a sample Perl script - (2011-06-24)
  [3322] How much has Perl (and other languages) changed? - (2011-06-10)
  [3093] How many toilet rolls - hotel inventory and useage - (2010-12-18)
  [2971] Should the public sector compete with businesses? and other deep questions - (2010-09-26)
  [2825] Perl course - is it tailored to Linux, or Microsoft Windows? - (2010-06-25)
  [2783] The Perl Survey - (2010-05-27)
  [2736] Perl Course FAQ - (2010-04-23)
  [2504] Learning to program in ... - (2009-11-15)
  [2374] Lead characters on Perl variable names - (2009-08-24)
  [2242] So what is this thing called Perl that I keep harping on about? - (2009-06-15)
  [2228] Where do I start when writing a program? - (2009-06-11)
  [1750] Glorious (?) 12th August - what a Pe(a)rl! - (2008-08-12)
  [743] How to debug a Perl program - (2006-06-04)
  [400] New in the shops - (2005-08-01)
  [116] The next generation of programmer - (2004-11-13)

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