Deprecating commands; Was: RFC: patch for ...

[Andrew Cagney]

For what its worth,

Something buried on my to-do / wish list is to extend GDB's command
mechanism so that the user is advised that a command is deprecated the
first time they use it:

	(gdb) othernames xyz
	warning: Command `othernames' is deprecated, use `set architecture
abc'.
	(gdb) othernames zzz
	(gdb)

Doing that opens up the possibility of moving GDB's CLI (command line
interface) forward.  One release would have a poorly chosen command
deprecated.  A follow on release could see it (ya!) removed.

I don't think it is reasonable to simply drop a command (no matter what
the results of a gdb@sourceware straw poll) without some sort of warning
to the general public.

	enjoy,
		Andrew