Re: [boost] [1.35.0] Release criteria compilers

From: Jeff Garland (jeff_at_[hidden])
Date: 2007-10-05 17:02:06

Beman Dawes wrote:
> Markus Schöpflin wrote:
>> Beman Dawes wrote:
>>
>> [...]
>>
>>> My candidates for the release criteria compilers are:
>>>
>>> * Microsoft VC++ 8.0 on Win32
>>> * Intel 10.0 on Win32
>>> * GCC on Linux
>>> * GCC on Darwin
>> Which means that you would be dropping official boost support for a wide 
>> range of platforms, if I understand you correctly.
> 
> *No* It only means that for the 1.35.0 release we are only testing on 
> platforms where enough testing resources have been contributed, and are 
> running reliably.
>
>  > This would make the
>> cross platform aspect of boost kind of mood, wouldn't it?
> 
> No. Boost developers aren't going to deliberately cripple cross-platform 
> support in their libraries. They will continue to watch the tests 
> results for all platforms, and apply reasonable fixes when they can.

Let me put it another way.  We will continue testing and fixing on the 
all compilers/platforms for which we have volunteers.  The difference 
is, that we aren't going to hold the release up to ensure that less 
standard compliant compilers are all green.   By reducing the number of 
platforms we can reduce the cycle time for developers to be sure changes 
are working.  This allows us to get new libraries and fixes released to 
the whole of the Boost community in a more timely fashion. Right now we 
are essentially delaying releases to provide for a minority of our 
users.  And ultimately, these compilers/platforms aren't left out in any 
way because fixes/ports can go into the next quarterly release.  The 
main thing we need to do at this juncture is 'whatever it takes' to 
break out of the current release quagmire -- we have important libraries 
and fixes that have been backed up for over a year now.

Jeff