Re: Proposed ports deprecation and removal policy

29.02.2024 2:22, Florian Smeets wrote:

> This policy should give some guidance on when ports can or should be removed. In general ports should not be removed without reason but if a port blocks progress it should be deprecated and subsequently removed. In general, if a ports blocks progress for some time it will be removed so that progress can be made. For more details see below.
> 
> 
> Ports can be removed immediately if one of the following conditions is met:
> 
> - Upstream distfile is no longer available from the original source/mirror
> (Our and other distcaches e.g. Debian, Gentoo, etc do not count as "available")
> - Upstream WWW is unavailable: deprecate, remove after 3 months

[skip]

> A port can be deprecated and subsequently removed if:
> 
> - Upstream declared the version EOL or officially stopped development.
> DEPRECATED should be set as soon as the planned removal date is know.

Objection to quoted reasons. A software not developed anymore but still works fine
after years is best software ever. Do not touch it, please.

Some examples:

mail/qpopper			abadoned by Qualcomm years ago
russian/d1489			created by ache@ who passed away years ago
net/quagga			abadonware but still best OSPF implementation for FreeBSD kernel
net-im/pidgin-manualsize	abadoned by initial author years ago
databases/oracle8-client	the only known library to link native FreeBSD code with for OracleDB connection

Do not "fix" what ain't broken.

Eugene