Do the version numbers actually indicate anything to the users? I.e., are you really so disciplined that e.g.: bugfix releases are always transparently compati

Do the version numbers actually indicate anything to the users? I.e., are you really so disciplined that e.g.: bugfix releases are always transparently compatible, minor version updates are forward and backward compatible (within their major version), and major version changes are backward compatible? Most uses of that format is a delusion of precision. I've seen very, very few projects that are that disciplined. So, you might as well just use something like a date, 20080521, or a YYYY.Release# approach.