Re: [PATCH] kbuild: Add the code maturity levels DEPRECATED and OBSOLETE.

[Sam Ravnborg <sam@ravnborg.org>]

On Tue, Feb 20, 2007 at 05:47:43PM -0500, Robert P. J. Day wrote:
> On Tue, 20 Feb 2007, Tilman Schmidt wrote:
> 
> > On Sun, 18 Feb 2007 19:35:07 +0100, Bartlomiej Zolnierkiewicz wrote:
> > > I think that the patch is useful and that the distinction between
> > > DEPRECATED and OBSOLETE options is quite clear:
> > >
> > > * DEPRECATED == new better code is available, old code scheduled for removal
> > >
> > > * OBSOLETE == no replacement yet but the code is broken by design
> > >   and unreliable, not scheduled for removal yet
> >
> > Is that really the consensus on these definitions? I thought it was
> > more or less the opposite:
> >
> > * DEPRECATED == no (complete) replacement available yet, but it has
> >   been decided that this code is less than optimal and alternatives
> >   should be preferred
> >
> > * OBSOLETE == replacement available, no reason to use this code anymore
> 
> those original definitions above are not quite the way i worded it.
> please consult the submitted patch to see how i phrased it.
> 
> in a nutshell, my idea of deprecated is: perhaps still supported,
> still being used, but there is a better alternative available right
> now and you should consider switching at your convenience.
> 
> obsolete means dead/unsupported/use at own risk.  might still work but
> no guarantees and could be removed at any time.

This is also my understanding. In MIB's the terms are sued more-or-less
as defined by Robert.

	Sam (non-native)