On Fri, Dec 05, 2003 at 06:10:10AM -0500, der Mouse wrote:
> 
> > I appreciate the need to support the user base indefinitely, but
> > eventually one expects the legacy stuff to dwindle into effective
> > insignificance unless we encourage, as we seem to do now, hanging
> > onto obsolete software.
> 
> I don't think so.  As someone who runs what is apparently considered
> obsolete software (1.4T - not even four years old yet), I assure you, I
> am very acutely aware that it is _not_ supported even now, much less
> indefinitely, and NetBSD does _not_ encurage hanging onto it.
> 
Does that mean you don't believe that the legacy stuff is a shrinking
audience?  I'm using 1.3.3 (I think) to serve various Internet
functions, but I'll upgrade to 1.6.1 at the slightest opportunity.

I'm suggesting that this must be a global drift and that we're
exercising an increasing amount of effort and pain to support
dwindling usage.  I believe that this will turn out crippling in
the long term.

Of course, I'm not suggesting that those who are developing NetBSD
right now should devolve their effort towards breaking it (or away
from legacy), but that others, maybe even myself, should start an
effort to decouple it.  Most of it will no doubt be documentation
rather than code, seeing as one is attempting to shed complexity,
but without leadership from the development team, and a commitment
right at the top to move in that direction, such efforts would be
stillborn.

++L