Re: Status of revivesa

[markucz%gmail.com@localhost]

>       The point is not whether the new features outweigh the pain of having
> to upgrade binaries linked against SA libraries.  The point is that up until
> now, NetBSD releases have always supported running older binaries, along
> with their binary libraries, without complaint.  Releasing 5.0 without SA
> support would violate this tradition in a major way.  Since NetBSD users
> would expect this tradition to continue, and since, if they're like me, they
> rely on it in order not to have to upgrade certain userland environments
> even as the underlying OS moves with the times and the hardware, breaking
> this tradition would hurt our standing in the community in a big way that
> couldn't be calculated.  I believe NetBSD is a niche OS, but I think it's
> used a lot in embeded environments, and my guess is that those
> manufacturers who produce those products based on NetBSD like the fact that
> binaries continue to work year after year, even as they retool for changes
> in hardware.  Other OS projects don't seem to worry much about binary
> backward compatibility and it is one of the things that sets NetBSD apart.
> Setting that aside would remove that differentiation, and that, is a big
> deal!
> -Brian
Seconded!