Very true.
I would argue that version numbers are poorly understood a lot of the times, since there is no official way version numbering is agreed upon. Users should read change logs or bug reports, not look at version numbers, that is not for them! A v0.9.9 release, does not mean it is nearly done! It means the programmer gave it that number for whatever his/her reasons may be, that is all!
Version numbering is for programmers to keep track of their projects, not for the Users! If you want to use version numbering as a User, you need to understand the programmers-logic. And programmer logic can be pretty stupid, since they decide what that logic is!