> On Tue, 11 Jan 2000, Richard Levitte - VMS Whacker wrote:
>
> [edit]
>
> ->
> ->Otherwise, I must say that I personally would like things to Become
> ->Right rather than keeping Bug Compatibility, if one has to choose. So
> ->I'd choose to put correctly updated and used reference counters
> ->everywhere (or at least where it's relevant).
> ->
> ->Yes, there will be some struggle with old code that will break, but I
> ->think that the future will look better with better consistency.
>
> I usually keep my mouth shut on this list but this is something
> important! :)
>
> Richard is completely and utterly correct. Make the changes to get this
> done right the first time instead of propagating these problems forward
> into a growing install base. Do it now rather than later!
>
> I believe it is more important to have a consistent API going into
> version 1.0.0 and to break binary compatibility now than to have to
> constantly watch out for (and explain to every new developer) the quirks
> in the code.
I think Derek means breaking "source compatibility". But regardless,
I am in agreement as well. In September the RSA patent in the United
States expires. This is going to result in a significant increase in
the number of commercial applications within the U.S. that are going
to integrate OpenSSL into their code base. If I could help you fix
this code I could. Perhaps the law will change on the 17th, perhaps
not. But in any case, the code must be fixed now before the patent
expires. The combination of the patent expiration and the expected
relaxation of U.S. export law with regards to imported Open Source
crypto libraries is going to open the flood gates to operating systems
and applications that ship OpenSSL. Better to fix it before that
happens then need to deal with all the weird behaviors especially in
light of the lack of documentation on which functions must be handled
in which way.
Jeffrey Altman * Sr.Software Designer * Kermit-95 for Win32 and OS/2
The Kermit Project * Columbia University
612 West 115th St #716 * New York, NY * 10025
http://www.kermit-project.org/k95.html * [EMAIL PROTECTED]
______________________________________________________________________
OpenSSL Project http://www.openssl.org
Development Mailing List [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Automated List Manager [EMAIL PROTECTED]
