Re: [HTCondor-users] Do you NEED to share condor_config across multiple versions of HTCondor?

[Tim St Clair <tstclair@xxxxxxxxxx>]

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----- Original Message -----
> From: "John (TJ) Knoeller" <johnkn@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: "HTCondor-Users Mail List" <htcondor-users@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Tuesday, January 7, 2014 3:16:20 PM
> Subject: [HTCondor-users] Do you NEED to share condor_config across multipleÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂversions of HTCondor?
> 
> If the HTCondor team were to add new features to the condor_config file
> that would
> cause older versions of HTCondor to regard the condor_config as invalid -
> Would this prevent you from using the new feature?

Probably, it depends on the usefulness of the feature and the impact on an installation.

> 
> Say, for instance that you could have lines in the config file that were
> neither comments
> nor valid Âkey = value Âstatements; and that these new statements were
> necessary
> for configuring a STARTD to use GPUs.
> 
> Would the fact that HTCondor 8.0.x and earlier would core dump when
> trying to read
> this configuration prevent you from using these new statements to configure
> other machines running HTCondor 8.1.x that could read and use this
> configuration?

Depends if we wanted the feature. ÂIf it was not a necessity, then we would construe this as useless churn and would not update.

> 
> We generally try and preserve backward compatibility, but there are real
> advantages to
> new syntax in the config file for solving certain STARTD configuration
> problems.
> 
> So the question is - is backward compatibility so important to you that
> it would prevent
> you from using 8.1 features on 8.1 machines because your installation
> needs for those
> config files to look valid to older HTCondor versions.

IMHO policy should not be violated in favor of a feature unless it has been thoroughly documented and vetted. Â

I don't see why we can't have a versioning scheme for configuration files, as it seems like a far more productive venture, and would enable shifts over time. Â 

> 
> Thank you for your time.
> -tj
> 
> 
> 
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-- 
Cheers,
Tim