[Numpy-discussion] Removing datetime support for 1.4.x series ?

[Francesc Alted]

A Wednesday 03 February 2010 08:42:57 David Cournapeau escrigué:
> > Yes, it means distributors of packages that depend on NumPy will have
> > to recompile against the new version, and I can see why some might
> > want to avoid that.  Pushing what is really a distribution problem
> > back to the NumPy package to manage separately is not the approach I
> > would take.
> 
> I don't think it is accurate to see ABI compatibility as a distribution
> issue. It is mostly an orthogonal issue: it is true that ABI
> incompatibility complicates distributions, but that's not the main issue.
> 
> A more important scenario is as follows: let's assume we do allow
> breaking the ABI every 1.X release, meaning that an ABI incompatible
> change happens every ~ 6 months at the current pace (using the last 2-3
> years as history). Now, let's say I have a package foo which depends on
> NumPy, and N other packages which also depend on NumPy. If any new
> version of one of those package needs a new Numpy, you need to rebuild
> everything. If those other packages depends on other libraries as well
> which regularly break ABI, you get exponential breakage, the problem is
> intractable. It is especially hard for packages which may not be easily
> buildable - I think this is the case of many scientific experiments.
> 
> I believe this is very detrimental for the whole scipy ecosystem: it is
> only bearable because only NumPy is doing it. If everybody did the same,
> it would be impossible to get anything stable.

I've been following this discussion with utter interest, and I also think that 
the arguments that favors a stable ABI in NumPy are *very* compelling.  So +1 
for *not* changing the ABI in .X releases.

-- 
Francesc Alted