Re: [boost] C++03 / C++11 compatibility question for compiled libraries

Subject: Re: [boost] C++03 / C++11 compatibility question for compiled libraries
From: Peter Dimov (lists_at_[hidden])
Date: 2018-02-19 23:54:45

mike wrote:

> Sorry for my poor English,
>
> Apparently, people understood the exact opposite of what I wanted to say.

FWIW, and IMO, your post was very good in laying out what dropping support 
for C++03 would mean.

I'd only take exception to "a library can start using C++11 without warning 
and this is not considered a breaking change". That's like saying "1+1 is 
not considered 2". It's not a matter of consideration; if a change breaks 
code, it's a breaking change, regardless of whether one considers it to be 
such.

It's generally up to the maintainer to decide how to proceed with breaking 
changes, whether caused by switching to C++11 or otherwise changing things 
in an incompatible way. ("It's generally up to the maintainer" is true for 
mostly everything in Boost, including whether to support C++03 or not.)

We don't break code without a good reason not because of administrative 
rules and policies that forbid us from doing so; we don't break code without 
a good reason because this creates needless problems for our users and 
tarnishes our reputation and our brand.