Re: [boost] [Removing support for old compilers]

Subject: Re: [boost] [Removing support for old compilers]
From: Bjorn Reese (breese_at_[hidden])
Date: 2013-10-15 05:15:26

On 10/14/2013 06:20 PM, Robert Ramey wrote:

> The question - What is the value of undertaking this task.

I think that you are overlooking some of the major advantages of
open source in your reasoning.

First, Boost users may need to investigate the Boost source code when
the documentation and examples are insufficient for their tasks. The
compiler workarounds makes this more difficult.

Second, Boost maintainers are less likely to receive patches from
contributors because of the added complexity introduced by compiler
workarounds. The compiler workarounds is the one of the main reason
why I have decided not to contribute to Boost.Serialization.

Finally, compiler workarounds can generate incomprehensible compiler
error messages when Boost users make mistakes in their own code. I
have encountered several of these, although I cannot point you to
concrete examples because I have not recorded them (they were
temporary obstacles that I just needed to get past.)