Re: Backward compatibility of next beta

[Derek Atkins]

Hi,

EricZolf <address@hidden> writes:

> Hi Derek,
>
> your understanding is sadly correct but was always like this, because
> there is no concept of API versioning (like we know in the mean time for
> REST APIs). This is something we have on our roadmap but it's not an
> easy thing to do, and definitely not with this release.
>
> See
> https://github.com/rdiff-backup/rdiff-backup/milestones?direction=asc&sort=title&state=open
>
> In the mean time, I hope we can avoid further incompatibilities, but
> it's not a promise.

This is a MAJOR problem then, which may make me have to re-think my
backup strategy completely.

I've got a dozen machines of various vintages that I'm trying to backup
from a centralized backup server.  Not all of those machines support
Python 3, and it's quite possible that, down the road, some may support
Python 3 but not Python 2.  I absolutely, cannot guarantee that both
ends can always run the same version of rdiff-backup, and frankly I
shouldn't have to.

Luckily, right now everything has been happy with 1.2.8.  But if some
future versions of backup targets drop that support, it sounds like I'm
going to be stuck.

It's really a shame there is no consistent client-server communication
protocol.  I'm not even going to call it an API, just a consistent
communication channel between rdiff-backup client and rdiff-backup
server, that would allow different versions to communicate.

>From previous discussions when talking about how to handle file names
(different string types), I was under the impression that this was
"fixed" and there was future compatibility.  I thought I asked this
clearly when compatibility discussions happened several months ago, and
I thought I heard the answer that 2.0 and 1.2.8 would be able to "talk".
I'm not sure where this miscommunication happened back then.  :(

> Sorry, Eric

Me too.  Off to find a cross-version compatible backup solution :(

-derek

-- 
       Derek Atkins                 617-623-3745
       address@hidden             www.ihtfp.com
       Computer and Internet Security Consultant