James King wrote:

I thought Peter Dimov got it right from the comment I saw earlier. The project would no longer spend time and effort on qualifying or testing C++03 compatibility. CI builds and the test matrix would no longer specifically test C++03. The default language level for b2 builds would be C++11.

Sounds right. All of these above is a much more useful statement to make to users.

Individual repository maintainers could attempt to continue to qualify for C++03 however once an upstream dependency begins to include C++11 code, that effort would have to give way.

If an upstream dependency only works in C++11 and above, and the library maintainer wants to support C++03, they can either: A) Drop the dependency and still support C++03 B) Drop C++03 support But again it will be up to that library maintainer.

As a developer both working on and consuming boost I would appreciate the permission to start using C++11 without fear.

You will be able to start using C++11 in the libraries that you maintain, without fear. You won't be able to force another library maintainer to let you use C++11 unconditionally in their library if they want to support C++03 users. Glen