I mentioned this in my last comment, but just as an aside:

AFAICT, ```__version__``` and ```version_string``` are only used (1) in the user agent string Picard sends to the web service, and (2) in the about dialog, to show the user what version they're running. For (1), it does seem like a positive thing to send a more-detailed version string. For (2), I guess it isn't a big deal, but I thought I'd mention it in case anyone thinks we should only display the shortened/"friendly-looking" string there.