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On 21/05/2018 15:17, Mark H. Wood wrote:<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:20180521141712.GA367@IUPUI.Edu" type="cite">
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">Break backwards compatibility already: it’s time. Ignore the haters. I
trust you.
</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap="">
(I understand that that's a quote of a discussion-opener from the write-up.)
I'd like to first see how many haters can be won over by selling the
necessary changes.
By "selling" I mean addressing the concerns of those who aren't
convinced that they want something:
o Why this is important *to you*, even though its importance was not
immediately obvious.</pre>
</blockquote>
<br>
To my mind it is at the outset counter-productive to refer to
"haters". To use the term "haters" implies that anyone who does not
share one's own view is somehow wrong and/or that their arguments
can potentially be dismissed on the grounds or emotionalism rather
than rationality.<br>
<br>
In practice, those like myself who recognise that the ability to
decrypt legacy-encrypted data is a basic requirement for many users
with archival needs do not "hate" anything. We just recognise that
decryption of legacy-encrypted data is a real world requirement
right now and will continue to be for many years, and so I think it
is right and proper for this project to continue to support this
activity with maintained software (albeit with a requirement for
users to make some changes to support such activity).<br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:20180521141712.GA367@IUPUI.Edu" type="cite">
<pre wrap="">o What we have done, and are doing, to keep *your* cost down.</pre>
</blockquote>
<br>
If the aim is to keep end-users' costs down then do not completely
remove legacy features that are still needed in the real world.
Decryption of legacy-encrypted data is one of those features, like
it or not.<br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:20180521141712.GA367@IUPUI.Edu" type="cite">
<pre wrap="">o What else would we need to do, to make this something *you* want?
</pre>
</blockquote>
<br>
Go back in time and change history! What is now archived is archived
and cannot be changed. Like it or not, it will need to be decrypted
for a very long time to come. Ideally this should be achievable with
maintained, current-version software. By all means, if that software
needs to be a special-use, decrypt-only, program that is hardly ever
updated except to patch code vulnerabilities then so be it.<br>
<br>
But do not throw your long-time users or their data under the bus
for the sake of eliminating backwards compatibility. Stability and
compatibility really do matter to many classes of users.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Mark Rousell</pre>
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