Re: Guidance on the implications of the Lyon Amendment

[email protected] ("Olaf Alders") Wed, 17 Jul 2024 14:29:44 -0400
Newsgroups perl.module-authors
Message-ID <[email protected]>
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On Tue, Jul 16, 2024, at 3:58 AM, Philippe Bruhat (BooK) wrote:
> On Mon, Jul 15, 2024 at 07:30:59PM -0700, Russ Allbery wrote:
> >=20
> > Some of it makes me wonder if I misunderstood the previous discussio=
ns and
> > the implications of the Lyon Amendment for the usability of CPAN too=
ls and
> > for what prerequisites have to be met before bumping the minimum Perl
> > version of way upstream packages to versions of Perl up to 5.16.  I =
feel
> > like I'm hearing different things from different people, all of whom=
 are
> > far more plugged in to the community than I am.
> =20
> One of the arguments during the discussion in Lyon was that continuing
> to support old version like 5.10 implies that a lot of specialized
> code needs to be kept to work around Perl bugs that have been fixed
> decades ago.
>=20
> Another argument (I don't remember if it was made then) is that people
> who refuse to update their code, insist on upgrading the environment
> around it, and demand that their code keeps working unchanged, are
> pushing the maintenance burden on everyone else but themselves.

I would add that if maintaining support for older versions is something =
that makes your open source work less enjoyable, maybe you're better off=
 dropping support. If you taking on the burden of someone else's failure=
 to upgrade detracts from your enjoyment of the project, you may be less=
 likely to keep contributing in future. I would rather see a focus on ma=
intaining our maintainers. If you find yourself less motivated to work o=
n this code then nobody wins. =20

Olaf

--
Olaf Alders

=F0=9F=93=AE [email protected]
=F0=9F=9A=80 https://prettygoodping.com


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<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title></title><style type=3D"text/css">p.Mso=
Normal,p.MsoNoSpacing{margin:0}</style></head><body><div>On Tue, Jul 16,=
 2024, at 3:58 AM, Philippe Bruhat (BooK) wrote:<br></div><blockquote ty=
pe=3D"cite" id=3D"qt" style=3D""><div>On Mon, Jul 15, 2024 at 07:30:59PM=
 -0700, Russ Allbery wrote:<br></div><div>&gt;&nbsp;<br></div><div>&gt; =
Some of it makes me wonder if I misunderstood the previous discussions a=
nd<br></div><div>&gt; the implications of the Lyon Amendment for the usa=
bility of CPAN tools and<br></div><div>&gt; for what prerequisites have =
to be met before bumping the minimum Perl<br></div><div>&gt; version of =
way upstream packages to versions of Perl up to 5.16.&nbsp; I feel<br></=
div><div>&gt; like I'm hearing different things from different people, a=
ll of whom are<br></div><div>&gt; far more plugged in to the community t=
han I am.<br></div><div>&nbsp;<br></div><div>One of the arguments during=
 the discussion in Lyon was that continuing<br></div><div>to support old=
 version like 5.10 implies that a lot of specialized<br></div><div>code =
needs to be kept to work around Perl bugs that have been fixed<br></div>=
<div>decades ago.<br></div><div><br></div><div>Another argument (I don't=
 remember if it was made then) is that people<br></div><div>who refuse t=
o update their code, insist on upgrading the environment<br></div><div>a=
round it, and demand that their code keeps working unchanged, are<br></d=
iv><div>pushing the maintenance burden on everyone else but themselves.<=
br></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div>I would add that if maintainin=
g support for older versions is something that makes your open source wo=
rk less enjoyable, maybe you're better off dropping support. If you taki=
ng on the burden of someone else's failure to upgrade detracts from your=
 enjoyment of the project, you may be less likely to keep contributing i=
n future. I would rather see a focus on maintaining our maintainers. If =
you find yourself less motivated to work on this code then nobody wins.&=
nbsp;&nbsp;<br></div><div><br></div><div>Olaf</div><div><br></div><div i=
d=3D"sig121518600"><div class=3D"signature">--<br></div><div class=3D"si=
gnature"><span class=3D"font" style=3D"font-family:monospace;"><span cla=
ss=3D"size" style=3D"font-size:16px;"><span style=3D"text-wrap:nowrap;">=
Olaf Alders</span></span></span><br></div><div style=3D"color:rgb(32, 33=
, 36);font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:small;font-styl=
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yle:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;" class=3D"signature"><div><sp=
an class=3D"font" style=3D"font-family:monospace;"><span class=3D"size" =
style=3D"font-size:16px;"><span style=3D"text-wrap:nowrap;"></span></spa=
n></span><br></div><div><div><span class=3D"font" style=3D"font-family:m=
onospace;"><span class=3D"size" style=3D"font-size:16px;"><span style=3D=
"text-wrap:nowrap;">=F0=9F=93=AE <span class=3D"color" style=3D"color:rg=
b(255, 255, 255);"><a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]">olaf@wund=
ersolutions.com</a></span></span></span></span><br></div><div><span clas=
s=3D"font" style=3D"font-family:monospace;"><span class=3D"size" style=3D=
"font-size:16px;"><span style=3D"text-wrap:nowrap;"><span class=3D"color=
" style=3D"color:rgb(255, 255, 255);"></span>=F0=9F=9A=80 <a href=3D"htt=
ps://prettygoodping.com/" target=3D"_blank">https://prettygoodping.com</=
a></span></span></span><br></div></div></div><div class=3D"signature"><b=
r></div></div><div><br></div></body></html>
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