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

["Robert P. J. Day" <rpjday@mindspring.com>]

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.

rday

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Robert P. J. Day
Linux Consulting, Training and Annoying Kernel Pedantry
Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA

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