GitVersion calculates the semantic version, this will only change once per release. Read more at version increments
Because Octopus deploy cannot have the same version of a package to a NuGet feed. There is no magic solution to this, but you can read more about your options at octopus deploy.
GitVersion needs a proper git repository to run, some build servers do not do a proper clone which can cause issues. GitVersion has a feature called dynamic repositories which solves this by cloning the repository and working against that clone instead of the working directory.
Not a problem, we have a quick introduction to SemVer which can be a good primer to read before reading SemVer.org
Read more at intro to semver
If you have used NuGet you would notice the versions above are not compatible with NuGet. GitVersion solves this by providing variables.
What you have seen above is the SemVer variable. You can use the NuGetVersion variable to have the version formatted in a NuGet compatible way.
So 1.0.1-rc.1+5 would become 1.0.1-rc0001, this takes into account characters which are not allowed and NuGets crap sorting.
**note: ** The NuGetVersion variable is floating, so when NuGet 3.0 comes out with proper SemVer support GitVersion will switch this variable to a proper SemVer.
If you want to fix the version, use NuGetVersionV2 which will stay the same after NuGet 3.0 comes out
If you run gitversion init then choose Getting started wizard then choose Unsure, tell me more, GitVersion will run through a series of questions which will try and help point you towards a branching strategy and why you would use it.