Package Version Value for 3.0.1

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For the version attribute of package in the OPF-document it is specified to use '3.0' as value for EPUB 3.0.1.
This is the same version indication as for EPUB 3.0.

How to distinguish between the two versions? How to indicate, that a publication really follows EPUB 3.0.1.?
With the current indication it seems, that the changes available with EPUB 3.0.1 are not applicable for publications using the version indication '3.0'. For example due to this indication a checker or validator should obviously use what is specified for 3.0 and not 3.0.1.
Therefore authors should not use issues, which do not already fit to 3.0.
This is not necessarily a problem for some new issues, they just have no formal meaning for the publication, if this is only explained in 3.0.1, but not disallowed in 3.0.
However some deviations author can never use, for example:
a) removed restrictions for Dublin Core source and type (no practical problem, because one can use instead DC terms with a meta element anyway :o)
b) collection element, record property etc
c) new events for trigger
d) new CSS features
e) additions to the structural semantics vocabulary.
f) changes concerning the predefined prefixes

To resume: What is the purpose of EPUB 3.0.1, if authors still must indicate, that they use EPUB 3.0?

If you're asking about epubcheck, the upcoming 4.0 release will incorporate validation for the 3.0.1 minor revision.

The changes made keep 3.0 as a valid subset of 3.0.1, so the changes won't make existing content invalid. Also, the new features in 3.0.1 won't impact on current rendering (i.e., elements like collection will just be ignored as unknown).

Changing the version number might seem like a simple thing to do, but then you butt up against future compatibility (RSes are not required to attempt to open a higher-numbered version), and a strong desire on the part of reading system developers not to ship a new processor for an incremental change to the standard.

You likely won't see a 3.1 version until there's a truly backward incompatible change to the standard, like allowing HTML content documents.

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