Re: [boost] Deprecation Policy

On May 16, 2015 6:31 PM, "Rob Stewart" wrote:

On May 16, 2015 4:26:29 PM CDT, Stefan Seefeld

wrote:

...

On May 16, 2015 2:29 PM, "Rob Stewart" wrote:

...

Some Boost libraries are unmaintained, some are under-maintained,

and others have been replaced by newer libraries or by the Standard Library. Boost needs to decide whether to deprecate such libraries, and if so, how and when to do it.

...

Please consider my initial thoughts below and provide ideas on such

a policy. I will try to capture your ideas and create a policy statement for later review.

I think the entire question becomes moot if individual libraries start following their own release schedule. Being maintained then means having regular releases (and thus over time it becomes obvious whether a library is maintained or not).

The goal is to offer both for the foreseeable future. (For example, the way my company handles Boost, the monolithic release is more appropriate.)

I imagine it's entirety possible to produce a "boost release" (or "distro" to use a term Niall suggested) consisting of all the latest releases of individual boost libraries. You might argue that it's hard to guarantee compatibility among them. But that has been a problem Boost has been plagued with forever: no two boost releases have ever given any guaranty of compatibility. So here again, a little change in policy would very much benefit boost users. Stefan