Breaking backwards compatiblity

[Adam D. Ruppe]

On Saturday, 10 March 2012 at 04:34:15 UTC, Walter Bright wrote:
> Linux has had a habit of not breaking existing code from 
> decades ago. I think that is one reason why it has millions of 
> users.

If you want to see someone who takes compatibility
seriously (and all the way to the bank), take a look
at Microsoft Windows.

I don't like developing Linux apps much, nor to a lot
of professionals, because it's binary compatibility is
a joke.

Yeah, the kernel is decent about it, but the rest of the
system sure as hell isn't. You're lucky if you can take
a Linux binary and use it next month, and certainly not
ten years from now.

(For example, take dmd out of the box on CentOS. Won't
work.)


On Windows though, even if you relied on bugs twenty
years ago, they bend over backward to keep your app
functioning. It is really an amazing feat they've
accomplished, both from technical and business
perspectives, in doing this while still moving
forward.