[openssl-project] What's a new feature, vs what's a fix?

[Bernd Edlinger]

On 01/21/18 08:40, Richard Levitte wrote:
> This may need being rehashed, as it seems we don't have a concensus.
> 
> Our versioning policy stipulates that released versions of OpenSSL
> should only be updated with fixes, that new features should go into
> new releases (right now, 1.1.1 will be the next new release, while
> 1.1.0 has already been released and is only updated).
> 
> The question that keeps coming up, through comments like the attached,
> is "what do we mean by 'new feature'".  I have been surprised at times
> by what others have considered a 'new feature', and obviously, I can
> surprise as well.
> 
> I think that it's clear to every one that added APIs is a new feature.
> 
> I think that it's clear to every one that added new functions is a new
> feature...  most of the times (the exception is when a fairly obvious
> function is missing in a newly released API).

IMHO a light-weight configuration option like this falls under the same
exception.

> 
> But then we have other items where it's not quite as clear, and
> opinions seems to differ, such as:
> 
> - is a new config target a new feature?  I think that most of us have
>    agreed that it is, but am not entirely sure everyone sees it that
>    way.
> 
> - is a new config option a new feature?  I have argued that it is, but
>    am not at all sure we have a consensus.
> 
> - is a new C macro to indicate if a certain feature is desirable or
>    not a new feature?  I actually have no clue, which is also the
>    reason I raised the question in the PR.
>    A side question is why this was coded as a direct C macro
>    configuration and not as our other config options, and in that case,
>    why we should consider it differently from the usual config options.
> 

a) It should not influence the exported functions or the header files in
any way.

b) It should not add any complexity (and future maintenance cost) to
the configuration process.

c) A "normal" config option would cross the border to a new feature.


Thanks
Bernd.