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My summary 1. Make bug reporting easy with an obvious place to report 2. Do not change interfaces between versions because users will hesitate to upgrade to g

My summary 1. Make bug reporting easy with an obvious place to report 2. Do not change interfaces between versions because users will hesitate to upgrade to get security patches. 3. For libraries, maintain security fixes for older versions, provide clear documentation so that users can upgrade to newer versions. 4. For applications, either change slowly or make a compelling case for change.

ocdtrekkie 5y ago
I feel so many companies, especially of operating systems and web browsers, need to understand point 2.
- voidfunc 5y ago
  2 has been a huge point of pain for me especially since everyone seems to be afraid to increment their major versions now since they don't want to lose the flexibility to break their API.
marcosdumay 5y ago
And there are those two links, that are very good: https://ozlabs.org/~rusty/index.cgi/tech/2008-03-30.html https://ozlabs.org/~rusty/index.cgi/tech/2008-03-30.html https://ozlabs.org/~rusty/index.cgi/tech/2008-04-01.html https://ozlabs.org/~rusty/index.cgi/tech/2008-04-01.html
- dredmorbius 5y ago
  "Rusty's Rules for APIs" for those wondering. (Referenced on p. 40 of Greg K-H's preso.)
cortesoft 5y ago
So does number 2 mean you can't ever change your interface?
- voidfunc 5y ago
  I think #2 is imprecise in its wording. Break between major versions (though, really, you should only break it for a good reason). What I am seeing is breaking changes more and more in minor and patch versions, especially since developers are afraid to cut a 1.x so they hide behind the 0.x semantic versioning unstable interface clause.
  - cortesoft 5y ago
    This would also only seem to matter if you release security patches to older major versions... otherwise those same people still wouldn't get security updates.
- shkkmo 5y ago
  I would say, be aware that major inforface changes mean that you might need to support the previous version with security fixes for a long time or leave non-adopters exposed.
  - cortesoft 5y ago
    Yeah, that was really where my question was trying to get to... what unspoken assumption is being omitted?
- mro_name 5y ago
  Use minors to add but beware of bloat. And majors to purge. Breathe in, breathe out. Like the tides.

ocdtrekkie 5y ago

I feel so many companies, especially of operating systems and web browsers, need to understand point 2.

voidfunc 5y ago
2 has been a huge point of pain for me especially since everyone seems to be afraid to increment their major versions now since they don't want to lose the flexibility to break their API.

marcosdumay 5y ago

And there are those two links, that are very good: https://ozlabs.org/~rusty/index.cgi/tech/2008-03-30.html https://ozlabs.org/~rusty/index.cgi/tech/2008-03-30.html https://ozlabs.org/~rusty/index.cgi/tech/2008-04-01.html https://ozlabs.org/~rusty/index.cgi/tech/2008-04-01.html

dredmorbius 5y ago
"Rusty's Rules for APIs" for those wondering. (Referenced on p. 40 of Greg K-H's preso.)

cortesoft 5y ago

So does number 2 mean you can't ever change your interface?

voidfunc 5y ago
I think #2 is imprecise in its wording. Break between major versions (though, really, you should only break it for a good reason). What I am seeing is breaking changes more and more in minor and patch versions, especially since developers are afraid to cut a 1.x so they hide behind the 0.x semantic versioning unstable interface clause.
- cortesoft 5y ago
  This would also only seem to matter if you release security patches to older major versions... otherwise those same people still wouldn't get security updates.
shkkmo 5y ago
I would say, be aware that major inforface changes mean that you might need to support the previous version with security fixes for a long time or leave non-adopters exposed.
- cortesoft 5y ago
  Yeah, that was really where my question was trying to get to... what unspoken assumption is being omitted?
mro_name 5y ago
Use minors to add but beware of bloat. And majors to purge. Breathe in, breathe out. Like the tides.