macOS release machine version for Node 12+

[rvagg]

Ref: nodejs/node#24521 (comment)

We should consider bumping to at least 10.12 ("Sierra") for Node 12 I think. Maybe even just jump to 10.14 ("Mojave"). Xcode does a really good job of maintaining compatibility, and we have the following in common.gypi:

'MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET': '10.7',       # -mmacosx-version-min=10.7

I don't believe we've ever had problems reported for using Node on older versions of macOS up to 10.7, it's now newer versions that are the problem as per the linked issue above.

[mhdawson]

@gdams had adding a 10.13 so that we could start using it in our testing. I think we've had some issues on 10.14, but could make sense to add that instead, use it to flush out the issue and then consider using it for builds.

@gdams do you think you'll have time to get to that in the near future?

[refack]

Does anyone know if bumping 'MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET' has any beneficial effects (maybe performance or size improvements?)

Refs: http://gs.statcounter.com/macos-version-market-share/desktop/worldwide

Legend:
OS X 10 beta: Kodiak - 13 September 2000
OS X 10.0: Cheetah - 24 March 2001
OS X 10.1: Puma - 25 September 2001
OS X 10.2: Jaguar - 24 August 2002
OS X 10.3 Panther (Pinot) - 24 October 2003
OS X 10.4 Tiger (Merlot) - 29 April 2005
[OS X 10.4.4 Tiger (Chardonnay)]
OS X 10.5 Leopard (Chablis) - 26 October 2007
OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard - 28 August 2009
OS X 10.7 Lion (Barolo) - 20 July 2011
OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion (Zinfandel) - 25 July 2012
OS X 10.9 Mavericks (Cabernet) - 22 October 2013
OS X 10.10: Yosemite (Syrah) - 16 October 2014
OS X 10.11: El Capitan (Gala) - 30 September 2015
macOS 10.12: Sierra (Fuji) - 20 September 2016
macOS 10.13: High Sierra (Lobo) - 25 September 2017
macOS 10.14: Mojave (Liberty) - 24 September 2018

[refack]

Maybe a better view:

Ping @ljharb could you share macOS version stats for downloads of node11?

[ljharb]

I have no such stats and no way to obtain them; all nvm downloads come from nodejs.org.

[refack]

Trends continue.

[mhdawson]

@gdams would you have time to add a 10.14. I do think building on it for 12.x would make sense.

[gdams]

Unfortunately, 10.14 is not currently supported in the ESXi version that we have a MacStadium or at least it wasn't when I spoke to them a few months ago. Will ask them again though.

[mhdawson]

If not 10.14 then we should probably move up to 10.13 for 12.x

[sam-github]

I'm trying to sort out what node version should build on what OS X version, with what Xcode version, and from there to figure out what machines should have (can have?) Xcode 10 installed on them.

• BUILDING.md says 13.x and master uses xcode 10; 12.x and before uses xcode 8
• 12.x is going to stay at xcode 8. 13.x is going to start at 8, and switch to 10:
  • main issue: macOS release machine version for Node 12+ #1593
  • macOS release machine version for Node 12+ #1593 (comment)
  • Revert "build: update minimum Xcode version for macOS" node#30043 (comment)
  • deps: update V8 to 7.8 node#29493 (comment)
  • build: update minimum Xcode version for macos node#29622
• OS X min version is undocumented, but MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET is set in common.gypi. It is min 10.10 for 12.x and later, 10.7 for 10.x and 8.x
• Xcode 10 requires OS X 10.14 (or .13 for earlier patches)
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xcode#Xcode_7.0_-_10.x_(since_Free_On-Device_Development)
• current OS X versions and their corresponding (single) Xcode version:

% parallel-ssh -i -h hosts/macos 'pkgutil --pkg-info=com.apple.pkg.CLTools_Executables | grep version'                                            
[FAILURE] release-macstadium-macos10.11-x64-1 (probably 8.2) -- 11.x and later released here
[FAILURE] release-macstadium-macos10.10-x64-1 (probably 7.2) -- 8.x and 10.x released here
[SUCCESS] test-macstadium-macos10.10-x64-1 version: 7.2.0.0.1.1447826929
[SUCCESS] test-macstadium-macos10.10-x64-2 version: 7.2.0.0.1.1447826929
[SUCCESS] test-macstadium-macos10.11-x64-1 version: 8.2.0.0.1.1480973914
[SUCCESS] test-macstadium-macos10.11-x64-2 version: 8.2.0.0.1.1480973914
[SUCCESS] test-macstadium-macos10.12-x64-1 version: 9.1.0.0.1.1508540944
[SUCCESS] test-macstadium-macos10.12-x64-2 version: 9.2.0.0.1.1510905681

FTR, the nearform machines are 2018 mac mini's running mojave 10.14.2, see #1695 for ongoing efforts to get them up.

[sam-github]

I think the TL;DR of the above is: Not a single version of our current macos release or test machines can run Xcode 10, so dual-installation of Xcode is impossible