[vtk-developers] BandedPolyDataContourFilter failes to compile on Ubuntu 14

[Bill Lorensen]

Sean,

Thanks for the suggestion. I was able to build gcc 8.2 on my Ubuntu
14.04 system. Only a little tricky. Took several hours to compile.

I have successfully built VTK HEAD and the VTKExamples. All VTK tests passed.

No more bitching from me (about this topic anyway0>

The compiler did expose some new warnings which I'll fix.

Bill

On Mon, Feb 4, 2019 at 8:38 AM Sean McBride <sean at rogue-research.com> wrote:
>
> On Thu, 31 Jan 2019 20:37:32 -0500, David Thompson via vtk-developers said:
>
> >I'm not sure it is a good idea to support old compilers and distributions:
> >
> >1. Ubuntu 14.04 LTS will lose support from Canonical in 3 months. I
> >would be surprised if what is in git master is released by then. Why
> >should we support platforms no longer supported by their distributor?
>
> Is the compiler so tied to the OS?  Bill, can't you upgrade your compiler without updating your whole OS?
>
> >2. If we keep forcing workarounds, the next time something breaks, then
> >*it* will be the only compiler error. That pattern just keeps accruing
> >technical debt. Ultimately, I believe that technical debt will push
> >developers away from VTK so I want to avoid it.
> >
> >3. Not too long ago, it was common practice for systems in production
> >use to never get patched (lest the patch break what was working).
>
> Not that we (programmers collectively) have solved the problem of patches always breaking things that work.  It's still the norm.  :(
>
> >However, security issues and increased connectivity prevalent today has
> >pretty much put a stop to this practice and I think that translates into
> >a much weaker argument for supporting older systems.
>
> I largely agree, but there are exceptions.
>
> Perhaps less on linux, but newer versions of macOS often drop support for older hardware.  So it's not always easy or cheap to just keep all software up-to-date.
>
> Cheers,
>
> --
> Sean
>
>


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