No more support for windows

Fri Jun 4 20:58:40 UTC 2021

This feels a lot like responding to trolls, but I'll instead assume that you're asking (or making a point) in good faith.

So, we'll stipulate that - you're actually interested in truth and knowledge.

So, it's easily compiled on Mac, Unix, FreeBSD, Linux, SunOS, RaspPi, etc.
And it compiles on a huge range of hardware, CPU's etc.

I'd consider that highly portable.

You're welcome to disagree, but then someone else will complain it's not available in Amiga, Atari and under Dos and complain it isn't "portable" because there's no dos version.

So how many platforms do you have to support, to call it portable? 
(I've always thought of "portable" code, in this context especially, as code that is kept open so it will fairly easily compile on any *nix/posix platform without too much drama. And I think that's a pretty universal understanding for *nix style code.)

So, it seems you are tilting at windmills, complaining about Windows only.

Yes, the fundamentals of Windows are *VERY* different than any Linux/Unix/Solaris etc based platform. As such, making it work across all those platforms is really quite a lot of work. 
(Making it work fine, even on the future supported platforms (*nix) isn't trivial - obviously adding Windows to the mix is far, far more!)

And, it seems like no-one has stepped up to commit the $$$ needed to keep that support going.
Even a cheap dev probably charges $100+ an hour. How many hours/dollars do you think, in aggregate, is committed to keeping Windows support? It's not going to be like buying a $3 app for your phone - since the market for Windows users is far smaller.

And, I suspect, if we reach the end of the road for Windows support, and there's a half million users out there that want BIND supported on Windows, and they'll all pledge a buck a year, than I'd expect that Windows support will roll right out.

But if instead there's 100 people willing to pledge even $100 a year, well I'd guess that's not likely to pay for it.

ISC manages to pay the people who write code and do support through support contracts. Do you have one of those?

So the last option is; 
You, or someone else to simply give away their time for free. 
You up for that?
If you're not, or you don't have that skill set, then complaining bitterly seems a little hypocritical.

ISC already releases a huge set of software that you almost certainly use every single day (DHCP server and clients, along with BIND) and they aren't charging you a dime for that use. They're not charging your ISP either, or a ton of other people. So, IMO, they've really done a ton of free work for the community already. 

But it seems like you think it's not enough.

Sigh. 
What. Can. I. Say.
ISC does a lot of really good work.
IMO, this kind of a complaint is really misplaced.

And to be clear, I won't engage in a bunch of back-and-forth arguing this position. You're welcome to agree or not.
But *I* think you're obviously wrong, and I want everyone at ISC who does all that good work, developing great software that they let us use for free that I really appreciate their work.

-Greg

PC> What I find ironic is that here:

PC> https://gitlab.isc.org/isc-projects/bind9/-/blob/main/README.md

PC> the very first line says:

PC> "BIND (Berkeley Internet Name Domain) is a complete, highly portable
PC> implementation of the Domain Name System (DNS) protocol."

PC> If this were truly the case, BIND would work on Windows (or any other
PC> platform that doesn't have a "u" in it's name) with minimal effort
PC> and would not require specific funding to adapt it to any particular
PC> platform.

PC> Can we please have a realistic definition of what BIND is and what
PC> it's objectives are?

PC> I for one would be more likely to contribute to the development of
PC> a non-platform-specific, portable BIND than a single-platform-specific
PC> one.

PC> On the other hand, if it has already been decided that BIND can only
PC> realistically be implemented in the *u* arena and will rely on
PC> facilities only available in this arena, then shouldn't this be stated
PC> clearly instead of also declaring that it is highly portable?

PC> Regards,
PC> Peter Coghlan.

>> Do you understand how ironic is for you to complain about “subscription is
>> not going to happen” while **every** email on the mailing list has this
>> note in the footer:

>> ISC funds the development of this software with paid support subscriptions.
>> Contact us at https://www.isc.org/contact/ for more information.

>> --
>> Ondřej Surý — ISC (He/Him)

>> My working hours and your working hours may be different. Please do not feel obligated to reply outside your normal working hours.

>>> On 4. 6. 2021, at 19:47, Peter via bind-users <bind-users at lists.isc.org> wrote:

>>> 
>>> On 04/06/2021 6:05 pm, John Thurston wrote:

>>>>> On 6/4/2021 8:48 AM, Peter via bind-users wrote: 
>>>>> When people find out2024 is the year bind is no longer supported for 
>>>>> windows people aregoing to be upset this all seems to be done quietly 
>>>>> nothing posted on the the isc.org site about this just how many people 
>>>>> depend on bind for windows will be shocking. 

>>>> And griping about the decision on the mailing list is annoying. 

>>>> If you want to alter the decision, bring something new to the discussion. Funding to pay for the windows development team? Logistical support for the project? 

>>>> Anything constructive will be better received than repeating "I don't like your decision". 

>>> Yes John Thurston I said about a subscription here which I guess will not happen if they made up thier mind its likly no going to happen.  

>>> Deprecating BIND 9.18+ on Windows (or making it community improved and supported (isc.org)

>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Please visit https://lists.isc.org/mailman/listinfo/bind-users to unsubscribe from this list

>>> ISC funds the development of this software with paid support subscriptions. Contact us at https://www.isc.org/contact/ for more information.

>>> bind-users mailing list
>>> bind-users at lists.isc.org
>>> https://lists.isc.org/mailman/listinfo/bind-users
PC> _______________________________________________
PC> Please visit https://lists.isc.org/mailman/listinfo/bind-users to unsubscribe from this list

PC> ISC funds the development of this software with paid support
PC> subscriptions. Contact us at https://www.isc.org/contact/ for more information.

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