Re: [boost] Re: [iostreams] Version of Iostreams compatible with 1.32available

From: Jeff Garland (jeff_at_[hidden])
Date: 2004-12-12 17:56:56

On Fri, 10 Dec 2004 11:00:36 -0700, Jonathan Turkanis wrote
> > * Seems to me that with some moderate effort the library could
> > be made to work more or less with MSVC++ 6.0. If you want me
> > to try to help a little wrt to this, please tell me so and I'll send
> > you more questions/stuff via private email.
> 
> I actually spent a lot of time making the library compile on VC6. It 
> was only near the end of development, when I got rid of the object 
> generator functions make_sink, make_source, etc. in favor of a 
> single function adapt, that I ran into internal errors on VC6 that I 
> couldn't fix.
> 
> Unfortunately, I found not having to support VC6 somewhat libertaing 
> and removed some of the workarounds when they seemed to get in the way.
> 
> My current plan is to add a defect macro NO_SMART_ADAPTER_SUPPORT 
> which applies to VC6.0 which will bypass the stuff that gave VC6.0 trouble.
> 
> However, even when the whole library compiled under VC6.0, both it 
> and to a lesser extent VC7.0 had runtime failures with global 
> optimization enabled. I'm not optimistic about being able to fix that.
> 
> Perhaps after I restore some of the VC6 workarounds and get the core 
> of the library working, you can help me add support for the 
> adapters. Thanks for offering to help!

I really think we should stop wasting time on VC6 -- in particular, for new
libraries.  I'd rather see both of you spend time extending your libraries,
writing new novel ones, or mentoring new library authors.  I can't even begin
to measure the amount of time I've spent on support for VC6 over the last 4
years -- I'm pretty certain more than all other compilers combined -- and I
don't think I'm alone.  If we stop supporting maybe it will coax the slow
adopters into some upgrades as developers complain that they can't use the
latest and greatest boost libraries without vc7.x. Anyway, I think it's time
to just say no to VC6 support. 

Jeff