On Mon, 15 Jun 2020 at 17:48, Gabriel Dos Reis <gdr_at_[hidden]> wrote:
>
> These protracted debate over feature test macros always remind me of the sage words of the inventor of macros for C, Doug McIlroy (and the inventor of the field of Software Engineering):
>
>
>
> Ø Most #ifdef's and #if's memorialize failures of imagination
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> Ø or care, often in the name of "portability". Code is
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> Ø NOT portable if it has to be rewritten according to the
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> Ø conventions of each environment. Ifdef expresses just such
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> Ø rewriting, and in an egregious style: it inverts the
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> Ø logical structure of a program, bringing the tweaks to
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> Ø the top while fragmenting the real architecture.
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>
>
> Source: https://www.mail-archive.com/hugs-users_at_[hidden]/msg00795.html

I don't have a shade of illusion of portability here; it's all about
selectively enabling superior
functionality when it's available, and it's not yet available
ubiquitously. Early adopters can adopt
early, without waiting for everything to synchronize into a brave new world.