Platform policy question: API compatability in minor releases

[Axel Simon]

On May 9, 2009, at 20:50, Duncan Coutts wrote:

>
> The question is this:
>
>         Should we allow compatible API additions to a library in a  
> minor
>         release of the platform?
>

Yes, I think minor additions should be allowed for two reasons:

- a maintainer might not bother to release for a minor platform  
revision unless he has actually a bug to fix; thus a user that fails  
to compile a program on an earlier minor platform version likely  
tries to build against a buggy library anyway. Upgrading is always  
better and faster than debugging.

- it is less of a burden for a maintainer who can keep one working  
copy of his/her library, rather than an additional one that  
corresponds to the major platform release. Furthermore, with two  
copies, it is always necessary to distinguish between fixes and  
additions. Sometimes patches are more logical if they contain both.

My 2p,
Axel.