Can we only support Go 1.18+

[haoxins]

After the Go 1.22 is released, can we only support Go versions > 1.18?

Why do I have this proposal?

When I started implementing some features for the Nebula client, I found that some popular libraries I wanted to use were based on Go 1.18+.

For examples:

• https://github.com/avast/retry-go/blob/master/go.mod#L3
• https://github.com/samber/lo/blob/master/go.mod#L3

[haoxins]

According to Go's release policy:

Each major Go release is supported until there are two newer major releases.
For example, Go 1.5 was supported until the Go 1.7 release,
and Go 1.6 was supported until the Go 1.8 release.
We fix critical problems, including [critical security problems](https://go.dev/security),
in supported releases as needed by issuing minor revisions
(for example, Go 1.6.1, Go 1.6.2, and so on).

See https://go.dev/doc/devel/release#policy

I think it's reasonable to support only Go 1.18+.

[haoxins]

also see a similar issue stretchr/testify#1313

[wey-gu]

@Nicole00 @veezhang what do you think, please?

[haoxins]

According to https://hub.docker.com/_/golang/tags?page=1&name=1.17

The latest 1.17 is published 2 years ago.

[Nicole00]

This is a change involving user usage. If some users use go <1.18, this will cause them to be unable to use the new version of Nebula Go sdk.

[haoxins]

This is a change involving user usage. If some users use go <1.18, this will cause them to be unable to use the new version of Nebula Go sdk.

But they can still use the old version with go mod.
The Go version upgrade policy is quick for the Go developers.
It's not like the Java side IMO.

I have researched some popular libraries in the Go ecosystem.
They don't treat the upgrade of the version field in the go.mod as broken.

We need to get a balance of user commitment and maintenance costs.
For me, the reason is the new language features introduced in the new version of Go
Generic in Go 1.18, slog and slices in Go 1.21, and more.

[haoxins]

Again, I think we can follow the Go's release policy:

Each major Go release is supported until there are two newer major releases.
For example, Go 1.5 was supported until the Go 1.7 release,
and Go 1.6 was supported until the Go 1.8 release.
We fix critical problems, including [critical security problems](https://go.dev/security),
in supported releases as needed by issuing minor revisions
(for example, Go 1.6.1, Go 1.6.2, and so on).

And I advise that we promise to support the latest 4 versions. 😂