Re: [boost] The future and present of Boost

Subject: Re: [boost] The future and present of Boost
From: Edward Diener (eldiener_at_[hidden])
Date: 2018-10-24 20:50:24

On 10/24/2018 12:43 PM, Peter Dimov via Boost wrote:
> Mike Dev wrote:
>> > We can switch to std::function unconditionally, but only if we drop 
>> > C++03 (for some definition of C++03 because only the latest and 
>> greatest > MSVC is ~fully C++11 compliant.)
>>
>> That's my point: I don't want boost libraries to invest any more 
>> effort in maintaining c++03 support (I think I made that clear in the 
>> last ml-thread about this 2-3 month ago).
> 
> It's clear to all that everyone is held back by the inability to use 
> C++11 things.
> 
> But we can't just stop investing effort in C++03 maintenance. We have to 
> officially drop C++03 at the Boost level, meaning, refuse to compile 
> Boost with C++03 at all, or make it difficult, or at least make it 
> choose an intelligent default that is never C++03.
> 
> Otherwise it's easy for our (g++ 5 and clang) users to end up with Boost 
> libraries compiled with C++03.

I don't get this. Why can't library X, which needs C++11, depend on 
library Y, which needs C++03 but works fine if compiled with C++11. What 
am I missing here ?

I agree, and have agreed, that Boost should spend no resources testing 
anything which still supports C++03. I agree, and have agreed, that 
end-users should be told that any library which currently support C++03 
may, without prior notice, choose to support only C++11 on up in its 
next release. I just don't understand why a library which does support 
C++03 is a liability to other libraries which support C++11 ?

Now if you are saying that libraries which do support C++03, but which 
use Boost libraries rather than their C++11 equivalents, should change 
to support C++11 so that their C++11 equivalents are used instead, I can 
understand that argument, since that was what cxxd was largely about and 
sought to accomplish without forcing a C++03 library to specifically 
change to a C++11 on up library. So I can understand the perhaps more 
straightforward idea of forcing a C++03 to become a C++11 library and 
use the C++11 equivalent library rather than the Boost library.