On May 16, 2015 2:29 PM, "Rob Stewart"
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others have been replaced by newer libraries or by the Standard Library.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.
It would seem obvious that unmaintained libraries should be deprecated,
but a library that works, even if it has some known bugs, doesn't grow worse over time. Thus, if an unmaintained library was included in one Boost release, continuing to include it is no worse than before. That implies that deprecating Unmaintained libraries is not a given. 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). I strongly believe that this is the best way forward, both for the Boost organization as well as individual libraries. Stefan