[hydra-dev] White paper about interface versioning

[Joshua Colp]

----- Original Message -----
> It was stated that support would be maintained for as long as the
> burden to support such a module did not exceed a threshold. Would it
> be wise to specify what such a threshold might be, and how long ahead
> of EOL a notice of deprecation would be announced?
> 
> For example, we not give dates as to when Asterisk versions will no
> longer be maintained. Perhaps we should do something similar where we
> give a minimum date, with the ability to extend support for that
> module indefinitely, but always giving a date as to when support *may*
> be terminated?

So I've given this some more thought and I think having us give a date
for when an interface version should be removed isn't the best way to
approach this. Those who would be affected should be the ones that provide
the feedback to determine this. The people implementing the interfaces are
the ones who have the burden of maintaining older versions, they know when
it is reaching a point where it can't continue.

One thought that crossed my mind was having the ability (somehow) for people
implementing interfaces to provide feedback on how difficult it is becoming to
maintain specific versions of an interface. We could use this as a guide for
determining when a version should no longer be supported.

-- 
Joshua Colp
Digium, Inc. | Software Developer
445 Jan Davis Drive NW - Huntsville, AL 35806 - USA
Check us out at:  www.digium.com  & www.asterisk.org