[FFmpeg-devel] [RFC] [Vote] Drop Windows XP support

[wm4]

On Thu, 14 Dec 2017 16:01:55 +0100
Michael Niedermayer <michael at niedermayer.cc> wrote:

> On Thu, Dec 14, 2017 at 02:26:31PM +0100, wm4 wrote:
> > I propose that FFmpeg sets the minimum supported Windows version to
> > Windows Vista (or maybe Windows 7). This would remove Windows XP
> > support.
> > 
> > The reason is that Windows XP does not provide certain convenient APIs,
> > in particular locking primitives that map well to pthread. There are
> > other problems, such as upstream projects dropping XP support, and
> > developers not being able to test.
> > 
> > Dropping it has advantages for us. For example, it would allow is to
> > rewrite the messy locking code for AVCodec registration, which has been
> > a topic recently.
> > 
> > Microsoft ended all support for Windows XP on January 31, 2009. That's
> > almost a decade ago. There is a lack of security updates, which makes
> > merely using Windows XP dangerous. There is no reason to put so much
> > effort into supporting an old, unsupported OS.
> > 
> > We should drop XP support, and allow unconditional use of Windows Vista
> > APIs.
> > 
> > I'm also casting an internal vote to probe for support (this vote is
> > meant for members of the FFmpeg voting committee only).
> > 
> > The subject of the vote is:
> > 
> >   Should we drop support for Windows XP starting in git master and the
> >   next FFmpeg major release?
> > 
> > Current release branches are explicitly unaffected.
> > 
> > My own vote on this issue is "yes" (assuming I still have a right for a
> > vote, I really don't know).  
> 
> I dont remember anyone opposing "droping XP support", I have to wonder
> why there is a vote on something, noone (that i remember) objected
> to. At least not recently.

To avoid flamewars and drama when someone actually makes a change that
would break Windows XP.