We can try to isolate module which depends on 1.7. Something like creating tika-parsers-ext which needs 1.7 when all other *library* will use 1.6. Non-library tika parts (like tika-app, tika-server) can easyly use 1.7 to run, it doesn't affect 3rd user group (by Nick's classification).
Also, if only check/build tools (like forbiddenapis) need 1.7 then we should try to resolve issue there. OTOH such breaking change can be done in major release (on switching to 2.0) since it can break something anyway. -- Best regards, Konstantin Gribov Fri Jan 30 2015 at 12:33:30, Nick Burch <apa...@gagravarr.org>: > On Thu, 29 Jan 2015, Lewis John Mcgibbney wrote: > > Do we want to move towards dropping support for Java 1.6? Oracle made an > > announcement some time ago so this is not exactly new news > > > > https://blogs.oracle.com/henrik/entry/java_6_eol_h_h > > The problem is that Tika has three kinds of users: > * Those using the standalone tools > * Those adding Tika into a smallish app they're developing > * Those using Tika as part of a large system / framework > > People in the first two categories can move to a newer JVM fairly easily, > if they aren't already on one. Those in the latter category find it a huge > amount of effort to upgrade their JVM, sometimes almost impossible to do. > If we move to a newer JVM, we'll loose those people > > By users on the lists, I'd suspect most are in categories 1 and 2. By > overall users, it's quite possible that category 3 wins, so we do need to > take care of their interests too! > > > As an example, Alfresco only moved to requiring Java 7 with Alfresco 4.2, > 4.1 (still quite widely installed, and very much still supported) has a > minimum of Java 6. If we move to Java 7, that'll mean that if there's an > Alfresco bug traced back to Tika, they'll have to backport it into a > private branch of Tika that's 1.6 compatible. It'll also mean they'll be > less inclined to move to a newer Tika, as it'd mean more support hassle if > some versions of Alfresco are on stock Tika $latest, and others are on a > private older branch. Alfresco are generally quite good as vendors go, so > expect many other large systems bundling Tika to be much much worse... > > I'm not saying "don't upgrade", just trying to make sure everyone's aware > of what we loose + what problems we cause for our users, so it can be > correctly weighed up against the benefits! > > Oh, and don't forget that Java 6 is still supported for another 23 months, > for those willing to pay (and I believe there are many who do!) > > Nick >
