[OpenAFS] End of life for Windows 2000?

[Gary Buhrmaster]

> XP does have the same problem that 2000 does in that it is no longer
> supported by Microsoft without an extremely expensive support contract.
> Given the fact that so many sites still have XP and Server 2003 systems
> in production, I can't imagine deprecating support for XP for at least
> another two years.

Well, there is support, and then there is support.  W2K is no longer
receiving even security updates from Microsoft (without an
expensive contract).  For some values of risk, it is now risky
to run W2K on a network (your network will vary), or plug
a USB stick into the computer (your USB stick will vary;
Siemens engineers are exempt from this concern :-).  There
are known vulnerabilities that are not going to get patched.
You have what you have, and I would suggest that the
limited developer resources for OpenAFS should default
to a support lifetime similar to the vendor time lines.  Just
as with Microsoft, those that need special support should
expect to negotiate and fund custom support contracts.
XP, on the other hand, is still (under the Microsoft extended
support policy) receiving security updates until early 2014,
although no new functionality, nor any corrective patches not
security related (without that expensive contract).  That
Microsoft continues to provide essential security updates
(and because of the Vista "issues") means many enterprises
continue to run XP, and will continue to do so until their
Win7 migrations are complete, which often means their
desktop life cycle replacement period has run its course.
Some enterprises will likely be running XP close to the
2014 date.  I suspect that there will still be community
interest in having OpenAFS supported on XP until close
to that "drop dead" date of 2014, which is more towards
a minimum of three years than two.  Microsoft even
supports Office 2010 on XP(*) (although, as I remember it,
IE9 will finally cut the XP cord).  However, I would suggest
that for organizations planning purposes, OpenAFS should
consider announcing that the end of OpenAFS XP support
is currently targeted to align with the Microsoft date(s).
While the dates may change, it is a target, and it lets
people plan.

Gary

(*) To be fair, Office 14 (aka Office 2010) was originally
    targeted to be released before (or right around) the
    XP end of mainstream support date, so support for
    Office 14 would have been expected.  Office 14 slipped.
    Who would have been able to predict a slipped
    Microsoft release date?