From: Dick Davies <rasputnik@...>
Date: 2005-02-01T21:33:02+09:00
Subject: Re: Is compatibility important for us?

* Francis Hwang <sera@fhwang.net> [0221 02:21]:

> What about compatibility with previous versions in the std lib? I wrote 
> a Ruby-driven e-commerce site in 2002, using Ruby 1.6, and those 
> versions of Marshal and Eruby. When the host upgraded to 1.8.2, the 
> site fell down like a ton of bricks, because those libraries were 
> massively backwards incompatible. Luckily, I was available to fix it 
> posthaste, but if I had been, say, on vacation, or no longer working 
> with that company, they would have been screwed.

But surely if they'd made that bump when you were away they'd only have 
themselves to blame. This isn't really any different to a 1.1.8 -> Java2
upgrade in essence.

If the breakage wasn't documented in the release notes, that's another
matter, of course.

 
-- 
'Everyone's always in favour of saving Hitler's brain, but when you put it
in the body of a Great White shark suddenly you've gone too far..'
		-- Prof. Farnsworth
Rasputin :: Jack of All Trades - Master of Nuns