Google Summer of Code 2009: Mentors needed!

[Jordan K. Hubbard]

On Mar 11, 2009, at 9:11 PM, Daniel J. Luke wrote:

> If the only benefit is keeping older applications running even when  
> newer libs change the ABI or API and the older application can't be  
> updated to use the new lib, then I don't see how the extra  
> complication of having every version around and available for  
> linking is the best solution.

Don't just think "older applications running", think "older ports".   
In the scheme I'm talking about, you can maintain many different  
conflicting versions of things in the same ports collection, meaning  
that even "old" ports can be built and installed at any time.  What  
you propose is something aimed more at simple backwards compatibility  
for users who have been following MacPorts for awhile, where I'm  
suggesting that even new users might use old ports, in which case they  
need the headers and other bits which comprise the "old" version of X.

The issue of getting rooted because you have old, unpatched bits on  
the system exists in almost all the compatibility scenarios, so it's a  
somewhat orthogonal issue.

- Jordan