[Dune-devel] Regarding depending on new software versions

[Christoph Grüninger]

Dear Markus,
I don't see the point in repeatably ranting about this topic on the
mailing list. I think everybody acknowledges such systems exist and that
they affect some Dune users. Back in 2013, I myself faced a system with
automake or autoconf being incompatible to Dune trunk as it was ten
years old. (Yeah, that was Texas, too.)

We have to balance the following needs / wishes
* of some Dune developers to use recent versions to benefit from bug
fixes and new features.
* of some Dune users to run on old software stacks.
* of testing compatibility with various versions and tools (GCC and
Clang, ParMETIS and Scotch PT etc.).

In the past we dropped some distribution versions as we know they can be
updated or as we explicitly expressed to no longer want to support these
versions. In your case, there are possibilities to get newer G++
versions. Either install them locally or ask the admin, Red Hat provides
the updates.
Last time I tried a super computer in Stuttgart, they had a module
system in place fixing the origin of the issue. Maybe you should ask the
admins to offer something similar.

Back to my point: Please collect distributions, compiler versions, and
supercomputers you want or have to work with. Next time we think about
bumping required version, present the list. This way we have data we can
decide on. Last time we asked, nobody was aware of such a system. Just
the general concern to be not to harsh with outdated software.

Bye
Christoph

Am 02.03.2018 um 11:43 schrieb Markus Blatt:
> Hi,
> 
> just to underline why I am not for depending on too new software versions.
> 
> From someone compiling on a Cluster in Texas:
> 
> -- CMake version: 2.8.12.2
> -- Linux distribution: CentOS Linux 7 (Core)
> ...
> -- GNU C++ compiler version: 4.8.5
> 
> Markus



-- 
Unfortunately, plots are notoriously hard to get right. Partly, the
default settings of programs like gnuplot or Excel are to blame for
this since these programs make it very convenient to create bad plots.
                        -- Till Tantau, "The TikZ and PGF Packages"

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