2016.11.11 14:03 "[Tiff] Global variables in LibTIFF", by Paavo Helde

2016.11.12 14:56 "Re: [Tiff] Global variables in LibTIFF", by Bob Friesenhahn

You must be referring to this statement by Edward Lam (not by me):

"Sometimes I feel like the only reason why I'm still on this mailing list is to beat dead horses. :)"

We need to take care that libtiff API improvements don't break the ABI since existing users are depending on libtiff releases (when they occur) to fix libtiff security issues and bugs without needing to rebuild the "world", and (particularly) without needing to patch packages using libtiff so that they work again.

API improvements should be layered on top of, or adjacent to, the existing API, acting as alternatives without breaking the existing API/ABI. Changes made for libtiff 4.X (e.g. hiding implementation structures) make this possible whereas before it was clearly impossible.

Libtiff is 28 years old already and we can not afford to upset the substantial body of existing software.

Bob
--
Bob Friesenhahn
bfriesen@simple.dallas.tx.us, http://www.simplesystems.org/users/bfriesen/
GraphicsMagick Maintainer, http://www.GraphicsMagick.org/