Unpublishing API post 4.0

[Stephan Bergmann]

On 02/07/2013 05:36 PM, Kohei Yoshida wrote:
> On 02/07/2013 11:04 AM, Michael Meeks wrote:
>  > * un-publishing interface in 4.0.1 (Kohei / Stephan)
>  >     + concern about doing that in a micro release.
>  >     + resolved on the mailing list.
>
> So, we've resolved this particular API in question
> (css.document.MediaDescriptor) since that one was, although marked
> 'published', practically equivalent of being unpublished.
>
> But I still have concerns in this area.  What if we discover an API that
> should be (or should've been) unpublished way after the initial 4.0
> release?  This may happen as we venture into areas where nobody has
> really ventured into up until now, and discover some obscure use of
> "published" API which hinders further rework unless the API is
> unpublished.  Since we still have lots of areas in our code base where
> nobody has stepped up to claim maintainer-ship, this is a very likely
> possibility.

The published vs. unpublished is something of a red herring here.  The 
real issue is if there is a problem you want to fix for a micro release 
and the fix requires incompatible changes.  The solution is as always,
if the benefits are considered higher than the risks, then make the 
incompatible change, otherwise don't (i.e., postpone indefinitely or 
postpone until the next minor or even major, where the perceived risk 
might be smaller).

The hitch with announcing changes in micro releases is that the 
lexicographical order of release numbers does not necessarily match the 
chronological order of releases, so what does it mean if some change is 
in "since LO 4.0.2" if LO 4.1 has been released before LO 4.0.2?

Stephan