From adf6dffa02765c84c347dd719ae3371af41a1294 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Cem Keylan Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2024 18:38:45 +0100 Subject: blog: new post --- content/blog/february-2024-news-post.org | 88 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 88 insertions(+) create mode 100644 content/blog/february-2024-news-post.org diff --git a/content/blog/february-2024-news-post.org b/content/blog/february-2024-news-post.org new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7b7796d --- /dev/null +++ b/content/blog/february-2024-news-post.org @@ -0,0 +1,88 @@ +#+title: IS CARBS DEAD? (Or February 2024 News Post) +#+author: Cem Keylan +#+date: <2024-02-22 Thu> + +Every once in a while (maybe like once a month) I check the IRC logs and see +someone asking for help while I was not available. Unfortunately, the amount of +outdated packages are rising, 125 at the time of writing this post, which +inadvertently causes issues for people trying to setup or maintain Carbs +installations. + +I have just recently seen two messages that were posted on the IRC channel a +couple of days ago asking if Carbs was still maintained so I decided to make a +post addressing the state in hand. + +#+TOC: headlines 3 local + +** Is Carbs Dead? + +I am fully aware that I haven't been doing a proper job as the maintainer for +the last couple of months so I can really see where the question is coming from. +Carbs is not dead, but it would be quite valid to say that it is in a comatose +state. I have been spending these last months focusing mainly on my university, +and doing that, I even missed the 4th anniversary of Carbs, and forgot to make a +post as I usually had done. + +However, Carbs is a project that is very dear to my heart, and I still use it +personally as my daily system, so I have no intention on killing it any time soon. +Still, there is good need for better communication on how my maintenance of the +distribution will be moving forward. + +** Future of the Distribution + +I am still working hard on my tasks as a university student. This means that I +can only work on the distribution periodically. Luckily, Carbs is a very +self-sustainable project and it can be easily updated without the need of a +maintainer. However, leaving a distribution unmaintained is rarely healthy for +an open-source project, so let's talk about my views on each component that +makes Carbs a functioning Linux distribution: + +*** CPT + +Apart from the occasional bug fix, performance improvements, and documentation, +I don't think CPT needs active maintenance, and I consider it to be feature +complete. I haven't made any release over a year, and it's likely that I won't +be adding any new features any time soon. + +*** Package Repository + +This is in general the tricky part. A user can update packages on their own +without the requirement of a maintainer. The Carbs Linux repository is part of +[[https://repology.org][Repology]], a hub that monitors a very large number of repositories to provide +packaging information. Since tracking hundreds of software packages for updates, +and issues is near impossible for a person alone without a unified interface, I +use Repology API to [[https://repology.org/projects/?inrepo=carbs&outdated=1][follow outdated packages on our repository]]. Any user on the +event that I leave the distribution unmaintained, can go to Repology and look +for more information on outdated packages to update their own. + +I have also written some tools that help me follow these information on my +terminal instead of requiring a browser, which I plan on releasing somewhat +soon. Here are some screenshots, as a teaser: + +#+ATTR_HTML: :width 800 +#+ATTR_HTML: :alt title +#+ATTR_HTML: :title Image Title +[[file:/img/repology-tui-1.png]] + +#+ATTR_HTML: :width 800 +#+ATTR_HTML: :alt title +#+ATTR_HTML: :title Image Title +[[file:/img/repology-tui-2.png]] + +This leads to what I believe is the most important part of this post. + +*** Maintainership + +I am planning on delegating maintainership for certain parts of the repository. +This will start with me orphaning some packages found in the community +repository and leaving them for adoption. Packages orphaned for more than a 3 +month period will be dropped from the repositories. The dropped packages will be +moved to a graveyard repository where someone wanting the package can request to +maintain it. + +Once the repository back to its usual state, I will also start looking for a +second maintainer to help me with overall repository management. If this sounds +interesting to you please do reach out to me from my maintainer email (or on +Mastodon [[https://mas.to/@cem][@cem@mas.to]])! + +See you on the next post! -- cgit v1.2.3