Re: [netmod] New Version Notification for draft-verdt-netmod-yang-versioning-reqs-01.txt

[Christian Hopps <[e-mail]>]

> On Oct 20, 2018, at 1:55 PM, Joe Clarke <[e-mail]> wrote:
> 
> * New requirement 1.4 for supporting over-arching software releases

[ I read this as supporting various different module versions based on a vendor's different software release trains. If this is wrong then the rest of this doesn't apply and I would just ask for the text to be update to clarify what it means. ]

How many operators/users have asked for this or indicated it's a requirement for them?

What problem is intractable without this requirement being met, and what is the cost of this requirement on the actual users?

I have pushed back multiple times on this b/c I believe this "requirement" is really being pushed to make it easier for vendors (a small affected group) to develop their software at the cost of their users (the much larger affected group) who would then have to deal with multiple trains of the same module.

Here is what I am afraid the vendors want here: A developer on release train X can easily change some data structure and then push the change into an automated system which generates a new YANG module definition and revs a version number -- all done! They don't have to deal with the inertia of making this change in their release train Y or Z and they don't have to treat modules as a stable API they are exporting, b/c they now have these new wonderful versions from this work. Meanwhile we the users now have to deal with N forks with all the various little incompatible changes random developers at the company wanted to make without having to coordinate with their coworkers/other internal teams. Now multiply this by M vendors. It's a nightmare. It shouldn't be what we are optimizing for, let alone making a requirement.

We already have features and deviations why are they not enough to deal with functionality that is present or not in various software release/devices?

FWIW I'm not against making it easier to develop software, but we have to be mindful if we are just pushing the cost (and magnifying it greatly) to other people in the community.

Thanks,
Chris.