Re: XML Calabash and Saxon 9.4

Quoting Norman Walsh <ndw@nwalsh.com>:
> David Lee <dlee@calldei.com> writes:
[...]
>> You forgot #3
>>
>> 3.  Stick with Saxon 9.3 for a while ...
>>
>> or maybe thats implied with #1
>
> Yeah. Well. Except I'm interested in trying out 9.4 so maybe there's
> one more 9.3 compatible release.

As a matter of practice, I suppose you need to figure out what are your
priorities:

   a. gain as widespread adoption of XProc and Calabash as possible.

   b. keep the software as up-to-date as possible in order to be able
      to explore new APIs, features, and obtain bug fixes.

I know that our project (for example) will struggle to migrate our
current system to XProc, and if Calabash ends up working the bleeding
edge, where we'll will need to continually update everything in order
to simply gain bug fixes (the maven approach to continual updates and
builds), you're going to lose some people like us.

Put it this way: (b) may be your priority, but some of us just want
rock solid, bug-free software, and are willing to sacrifice new
features for stability and bug fixes. We've had a tough enough time
explaining why XProc is an improvement over the status quo without
trying to play catch-up with those who live and breathe this stuff.
Just yesterday I was the one who updated the 7 year old version of
ant used in the production system to the current version... *sigh*

We likely all know the problem with getting stuck on an older branch
that doesn't get the bug fixes, so I hope forking isn't the choice.

I'm not sure what I'm asking exactly but I guess I just hope y'all
can keep in mind that not everyone will be *able* to stay entirely
current, and if there ends up being a space race on versions we're
probably going to get stuck in an older version and not get the bug
fixes we will likely need. Or something like that. Obviously these
things are always tradeoffs, but given my druthers I'd much rather
skip a feature over stability. Call me a Conservative. (ha)

Murray

...........................................................................
Murray Altheim <murray11 at altheim dot com>                       = =  ===
http://www.altheim.com/murray/                                     ===  ===
SGML Grease Monkey, Banjo Player, Wantanabe Zen Monk               = =  ===

       Boundless wind and moon - the eye within eyes,
       Inexhaustible heaven and earth - the light beyond light,
       The willow dark, the flower bright - ten thousand houses,
       Knock at any door - there's one who will respond.
                                       -- The Blue Cliff Record

Received on Monday, 19 December 2011 22:21:54 UTC