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What source distribution? Many replies seem to imply open source by default. Of course projects may have specific requirements, and open source is indeed a spe

What source distribution? Many replies seem to imply open source by default. Of course projects may have specific requirements, and open source is indeed a specific use case, but the majority of software is commercial, closed source. Regarding compiler versions, many projects I worked on actually check that during the build because the code may only have been designed for or tested against a specific compiler/compiler version. In general upgrading the version of the compiler is an activity in itself because, indeed, this may require solving new warnings/compilation issues and a full test campaign.

flohofwoe 4y ago
> but the majority of software is commercial, closed source That may be true for 'end user applications', but definitely not for libraries (thankfully). I use exactly zero closed source (precompiled) dependencies in my hobby and professional work because they are such pain to work with. Thankfully these days there's an open source alternative for pretty much everything, 15 years ago the situation was much more dire.
- mytailorisrich 4y ago
  Oh you use plenty of closed source software in your daily life. The majority of software out there is closed source. Edit: the applications you use on your desktop represent a very small portion of the software running in the world, including software that crosses your path on a daily basis and so 'software devlopment' is not synonymous with open source.
  - flohofwoe 4y ago
    I edited my reply during your reply to clarify. But when I look at the tools and applications I use daily, there's only two important applications that are closed source: VSCode and Chrome (and even this is debatable because both of those tools are just thin wrappers around Chromium: https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src.git https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src.git).
    - staunton 4y ago
      Indeed, I've had good experiences using Chromium and VSCodium instead, which simply don't include the closed source parts.
- pjmlp 4y ago
  They are quite common in libraries for gaming industry and enterprise components.

flohofwoe 4y ago

> but the majority of software is commercial, closed source That may be true for 'end user applications', but definitely not for libraries (thankfully). I use exactly zero closed source (precompiled) dependencies in my hobby and professional work because they are such pain to work with. Thankfully these days there's an open source alternative for pretty much everything, 15 years ago the situation was much more dire.

mytailorisrich 4y ago
Oh you use plenty of closed source software in your daily life. The majority of software out there is closed source. Edit: the applications you use on your desktop represent a very small portion of the software running in the world, including software that crosses your path on a daily basis and so 'software devlopment' is not synonymous with open source.
- flohofwoe 4y ago
  I edited my reply during your reply to clarify. But when I look at the tools and applications I use daily, there's only two important applications that are closed source: VSCode and Chrome (and even this is debatable because both of those tools are just thin wrappers around Chromium: https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src.git https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src.git).
  - staunton 4y ago
    Indeed, I've had good experiences using Chromium and VSCodium instead, which simply don't include the closed source parts.
pjmlp 4y ago
They are quite common in libraries for gaming industry and enterprise components.