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Document deprecation of old OS and arch versions, for #19002 and #19075.

Russ Cox 2022-08-05 12:00:12 -04:00
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PortingPolicy.md

@ -69,6 +69,22 @@ If a builder fails for more than four weeks or is failing at the time of a relea
Due to backwards compatibility concerns, removing a formerly working port should be a last resort. Finding a new maintainer is always preferable.
# Removing old operating system and architecture versions
To allow development effort to focus on systems that are widely available to Go users,
over time we may remove support for older operating systems and architectures,
especially older operating system versions and architecture revisions.
The important considerations when deciding whether to remove support for an old operating system or architecture version are:
- **Availability.** If the operating system is no longer distributed or the hardware is no longer manufactured, for example, there's not a clear need to keep it going. For example, Go's ppc64 port no longer supports the IBM POWER5 architecture.
- **Manufacturer support.** If the operating system or architecture is no longer supported by its manufacturer, that is a strong signal that a future version of Go can remove support as well. For example, each year, Apple typically issues one new version of macOS and deprecates one old version. [Go typically deprecates old macOS versions at the same rate](https://github.com/golang/go/issues/23011#issuecomment-738395341).
- **Actual or expected user base.** If there are relatively few users, significant effort to maintain a port may not be worthwhile.
- **Ongoing costs.** Ports that require significant ongoing debugging or implementation efforts will be scrutinized more than ports that don't.
When the considerations weigh in favor of removing a port and a [proposal is accepted](https://go.dev/s/proposal-process), Go 1._N_'s release notes will announce that support for a given operating system or architecture will be dropped in Go 1.(_N_+1).
# Getting started
See https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/golang-dev/SRUK7yJVA0c for some discussion on how to go about writing a new port.