@peterflynn yes, initially I wanted to avoid any src/ changes by grunt-task. I put in a text placeholder, "running from local source", that would be replaced with an actual timestamp by the grunt task when writing out the dist/config.json.

here's what I think you guys are considering:

1) read file date of Brackets.exe. About view always shows timestamp.

2) grunt task saves date to user space (brackets.json or state.json).  About view always shows timestamp.

3) grunt task saves date to dist/config.json.  About view only shows build timestamp when not running from dev.