Re: [boost] [Boost Test] - MSVC 6.0 issue in recent HEAD

From: Reece Dunn (msclrhd_at_[hidden])
Date: 2006-01-30 17:55:50

AlisdairM wrote:
>Gennadiy Rozental wrote:
>
> > Didn't we decide to drop ancient compilers?
>
>Not yet, but we never officially defined what it means to support a
>compiler either.
>
>There is certainly a growing feeling their time has come, but no
>definitive list yet.

Microsoft have dropped all support for VC6 for some time now. Several Boost 
libraries (such as Spirit) have dropped support for this compiler.

>I have proposed deprecating MSVC6 and GCC2.95.3 in this release (1.34)
>so that users at least get some notice they are vanishing.  I would
>then hope the compiler config would still detect these compilers, and
>#error with a message saying Boost 1.34 was the last supported version,
>so anyone trying to use them at least knows which old version of Boost
>to retrieve (and likewise, I recommend this for any formal deprecation
>policy we finally adopt)

It may be useful if Boost.Config still detects the functionality for the 
compiler(s), so you could use it with, say, VC6 in your own project.

A message would be better than an #error as you could still use components 
that still work with the older compilers.

- Reece