Re: General approach to backward compatibility

[Ross Gardler <rg...@apache.org>]

My proposal for resolving such issues was snipped, so I'm pasting it 
again again here since a new thread has been started (I've generalised a 
little to fit the new subject line):

Ask yourself these two questions, then you'll know whether changes
are OK or not. I trust your judgment:

1) Does a site that rendered with 0.7 still look the same when
rendered with your modifications?

2) Does a site that failed to render correctly with 0.7 now render 
correctly?

If yes to both then changes are fine.

If no to the first then changes are not OK unless answer to second is
yes. In which case the changes will usually be OK (but they need
documenting in the upgrading to 0.8 documentation).

In the very last instance where it will usually be OK, it is only OK if
the community see it as OK. One of our community has raised a concern,
we have to address it. In this case I feel the call is yours as to
whether the changes stay or not (others will speak up if they have an
opinion).

----

In this specific instance, the answers appear to be:

1) Maybe (site now renders as documented, so this depends on user 
expectation)

2) Yes

With your additional explanation in this mail it seems pretty clear to 
me that, in this case, the changes are good ones. As long as we document 
the change then users will be aware of them and should not be stung by 
the answer to 1 (assuming they RTFM)

Ross