On Mon, Nov 23, 2009 at 08:40:40PM +0100, Werner Smekal wrote: > Hi Geoffrey, > > > > > If a new/improved set of Plplot Tcl/Tk widgets were to come along, > > which > > worked only with Tcl/Tk 8.5+, what would people expect to happen > > with the > > older stuff that works with Tcl/Tk 8.4-? > > > > If a new/improved set of PLplot Python widgets were to come along, > > which > > worked only with Python 3.1+ + Tcl/Tk 8.5+, what would people expect > > to > > happen with the older stuff that works with Python 2.6- and Tcl/Tk > > 8.4-? > > Would it be okay to tell them to use the PLplot 5.x versions? I see > this often in Open Source, that new versions of software only support > the latest versions of its dependencies. So, if it's important for you > to maintain compatibility with older systems, you need to stay with > PLplot 5.x and if you want the new features of PLplot 6.x you need an > OS with updated development tools. If we branch off PLplot 5.9 we > could still provide some sort of support, like backporting of bug > fixes or so. > > Also ask the users to adjust their code is not much too ask. e.g. for > the wxWidgets library that's "normal". A change in the minor version > number (e.g 2.6 to 2.8) means, that it's possible you need to change > your code. Mostly these are small changes, but still the user can't > anticipate that his code will compile "out-of-the-box". Sometimes > people complain, but nobody forces you to use the new version. But if > you want the new features of wxWidgets ... > > So, I think it's ok to raise also the minimal version number of > dependencies required.
I think it depends on the circumstances. If it is possible to maintain compatibility support for a while, then this is best. At some point though this becomes too much and support for obsolete versions has to be dropped. Things like tcl and python are particularly tricky here as there are often multiple versions in common use at any one time. I think we have to review things on a case by case basis. Where we drop support we need to clearly tell users about this well in advance so they have chance to migrate smoothly. Andrew ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Let Crystal Reports handle the reporting - Free Crystal Reports 2008 30-Day trial. Simplify your report design, integration and deployment - and focus on what you do best, core application coding. Discover what's new with Crystal Reports now. http://p.sf.net/sfu/bobj-july _______________________________________________ Plplot-devel mailing list Plplot-devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/plplot-devel
