Also consider that a lot of linux apps can be considered alpha or beta quality in the normal versioning system but really most of it is very stable none the less.
The traditional versioning system is thrown out the window in linux as software that is say version 0.4.5 might be rock solid.
Or some of it might be unstable, but thats why I like linux: never know what works until you try
And some "betaware" can be more stable and sturdy then the final version, I have seen this happen both in the windows world and linux world.