Mikhail Gorbunov-Posadov, in a November article in publications:
An alive publication is a new genre for presenting the results of scientific research, where the scientific work is published online, and then is constantly being developed and improved by its author. Serious errors and typos are no longer fatal, nor do they haunt the author for the rest of his or her life.
Gorbunov-Posadov has in mind perpetual revision, and a slew of thoughts for how the publishing world should adapt. And he expects it to happen:
Only absolute geniuses write perfect texts on the first attempt. All other authors will notice this or the imperfection of their publication after some time and will undoubtedly be happy to have a window of opportunity to improve, correct, or update it. A new paradigm for presenting the results of research is the future. Alive publications will replace many of the current forms of publications based on print traditions. In a few years, the scientist’s mind will be transformed. Taking care to keep a publication up to date will become the norm; moreover, it will become a long-term, irresistible, and vital need, akin to a parent’s care for a child’s development.
Alive or not, widespread support for versioning—with less reverence to a version of record—is overdue, especially in kinetic fields like my own.