Re: Suggested policy for dropping C++03 support in Boost libraries

From: Glen Fernandes (glen.fernandes_at_[hidden])
Date: 2019-11-08 12:58:58

On Fri, Nov 8, 2019 at 7:43 AM Robert Ramey  wrote:
> I don't see this either.  I'm sure that any library which works with
> C++03 will work with C++20.

What about this scenario: The maintainer of Boost.TypeTraits decides
to stop supporting C++03 and removes all C++03 workarounds and tests
for the  1.75 release. Serialization depends on TypeTraits, so in
1.75, Serialization cannot be used by C++03 users. Right now, the
release managers would probably hold up the 1.75 release because of
failing tests for Serialization. (Or if not failing tests, then maybe
they might hold up the release if users complain about the 1.75-beta's
Serialization not working for them).

The idea is the release managers would not hold up the release, for
something like that. i.e. C++03 Serialization tests wouldn't matter to
the release managers, only the C++11+ tests. User complaints about
C++03  support wouldn't matter to the release managers, because they
would reply saying that the standard mode is no longer officially
supported.

As the Boost Serialization author, you would be free to reimplement
those TypeTraits inside Boostorg/Serialization to keep your C++03
users happy. But the TypeTraits maintainer would feel like he can make
that change without any concerns.

If you believe that this is the way of things today, then there's
nothing to worry about. Everyone's already in agreement about the
state that we want to be in.

Glen