[HEADSUP] Phasing out old Windows versions and 32 bit support

[Corinna Vinschen]

On Oct 27 11:37, Thomas Wolff wrote:
> Am 27.10.2021 um 10:49 schrieb Corinna Vinschen via Cygwin:
> > Less than 1% are real 32 bit systems.
> I think roughly 1% is still a community to consider. Working old machines
> shouldn't be trashed just because they are missing a few bits :)
> 
> > Dropping 32 bit support will reduce code complexity in Cygwin and it will
> > reduce the workload of the package maintainers.
> Code complexity was also an argument when dropping XP support, but there was
> quite some discussion at its time.

There's always discussion.  Supporting older systems gets unfeasible at
one point.  The hoops you have to jump through to get the same
functionality or just an adequate fake to replace stuff readily
available on later systems are in part considerable.  Just have a quick
look at clock.cc.  Practically all clock types need an OS check and a
workaround for older systems.

> For `egrep "# *if.*(32|64)"` I'm counting roughly 160 matches in winsup, but
> only in a few files. Is it really necessary?

Look again, just check for `# *if.*86' instead.  Ignoring the math
lib, 212 conditional compilations in 74 files, some of them really
tricky.  exceptions.cc is a nightmare in itself.  Plus the wrapper
functions still supporting Cygwin executables built under Cygwin 1.3,
which only affects 32 bit anyway.  If this can go away, the code base
will be *much* simpler and easier to understand and *maybe* it will help
to find somebody interested in sharing Cygwin maintainership.  We're all
not getting younger...

> > Those few still running
> > Cygwin on a real 32 bit system will still have a chance to run Cygwin
> > by utilizing Peter's time machine.
> 
> Peter's time machine is a very appreciable effort. It's a bit fiddly
> though to figure out how to use it, particularly to identify the
> "latest XP version". Maybe some explicit howto could be published on
> the cygwin pages?

Sure, if somebody wants to write up something, no problem to publish
it on the Cygwin website.


Corinna