# How long does a deprecated feature stay in the release? **URL:** \ **Category:** Ansible Project\ **Created:** [October 16, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-long-does-a-deprecated-feature-stay-in-the-release/11986 "2012-10-16T16:53:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zack\_Perry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/54ee81/32.png) [@Zack\_Perry](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Zack_Perry)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-long-does-a-deprecated-feature-stay-in-the-release/11986/1 "2012-10-16T16:53:45Z")
ansible is evolving faster and faster now. So, I have been going over quite a lot of my existing playbooks to ensure that 1. They use the latest features if such a usage results in efficiency and clarity gain 2. They don’t use deprecated features Regarding 2, sometimes, the doc mentions whether a feature is deprecated and from which release. An example is [http://ansible.cc/docs/playbooks2.html?highlight=ignore\_errors](http://ansible.cc/docs/playbooks2.html?highlight=ignore_errors). But we are at 0.8 already, the feature is still there, and is still used in at least one example and some places in the library and test. So, the Q: is there a general policy once a feature is deprecated, when can we expect it to be completely removed from ansible? Regards, – Zack ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_Bielawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Tim\_Bielawa](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Tim_Bielawa)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 5:55pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-long-does-a-deprecated-feature-stay-in-the-release/11986/2 "2012-10-16T17:55:55Z")
Tangential to that: Is ignore\_errors really deprecated? I have valid use cases for that. Back on topic: I think in IRC we talked once about spitting out plain and obvious "DEPRECATION WARNING: foo, will be gone in $this\_release+X" messages. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_DeHaan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@Michael\_DeHaan](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Michael_DeHaan)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 5:56pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-long-does-a-deprecated-feature-stay-in-the-release/11986/3 "2012-10-16T17:56:16Z")
This is a documentation error, ignore\_errors is NOT deprecated. Please file a bug. The only thing I've been threatening to kill is configuration via environment variable. Once actually deprecated in a released release, the feature may be removed in the following release. In general, we're \*NOT\* allowing removal of anything from playbooks or breaking the Playbook YAML signature, API signature, or /usr/bin/\* flags. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_DeHaan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@Michael\_DeHaan](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Michael_DeHaan)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 6:00pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-long-does-a-deprecated-feature-stay-in-the-release/11986/4 "2012-10-16T18:00:21Z")
> Back on topic: > > I think in IRC we talked once about spitting out plain and obvious > "DEPRECATION WARNING: foo, will be gone in $this\_release+X" messages. And this is exactly what I've done for when I've done this. Nothing changed here. ---
**Author:** ![Zack\_Perry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/54ee81/32.png) [@Zack\_Perry](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Zack_Perry)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-long-does-a-deprecated-feature-stay-in-the-release/11986/5 "2012-10-16T18:21:36Z")
> This is a documentation error, ignore\_errors is NOT deprecated. > > Please file a bug. My colleague just did. Thanks for the clarification. > The only thing I’ve been threatening to kill is configuration via > environment variable. > > Once actually deprecated in a released release, the feature may be > removed in the following release. IMHO this “policy” should be part of the official documentation. In the current [ansible.cc/docs](http://ansible.cc/docs/), I suggest to place this statement towards the end of the chapter “[Getting Started](http://ansible.cc/docs/gettingstarted.html)”, perhaps with a new section “New and Deprecated Features”? > In general, we’re _NOT_ allowing removal of anything from playbooks or > breaking the Playbook YAML signature, API signature, or /usr/bin/\* > flags. Again, I recommend to put the above in said new section. Regards, – Zack ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_DeHaan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@Michael\_DeHaan](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Michael_DeHaan)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 6:24pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-long-does-a-deprecated-feature-stay-in-the-release/11986/6 "2012-10-16T18:24:19Z")
– Michael > > This is a documentation error, ignore\_errors is NOT deprecated. > > > > Please file a bug. > > My colleague just did. > > Thanks for the clarification. > > > The only thing I’ve been threatening to kill is configuration via > > environment variable. > > > > Once actually deprecated in a released release, the feature may be > > removed in the following release. > > IMHO this “policy” should be part of the official documentation. In the current [ansible.cc/docs](http://ansible.cc/docs/), I suggest to place this statement towards the end of the chapter “[Getting Started](http://ansible.cc/docs/gettingstarted.html)”, perhaps with a new section “New and Deprecated Features”? Meh