Discussion:
Taking over maintainership of cpphs, HaXml, hscolour, and polyparse
Peter Simons
2018-10-30 15:50:59 UTC
Permalink
Fellow Haskell Hackers,

it appears that Malcolm Wallace has lost interest in maintaining his
packages on Hackage. Some of them are rather important dependencies for
others, and therefore I'd like to take over maintenance of the following
libraries:

- cpphs
- HaXml
- hscolour
- polyparse

Polyparse, in particular, needs a maintenance update to fix build issues
with GHC 8.6.1. The absence of a working release blocks packages like
hlint from supporting that compiler [1].

I tried to contact Malcolm on 2018-09-24 via e-mail. Others have also
tried to reach him through WhatsApp other channels. Unfortunately,
no-one has received a response, which is why we decided to go through
with this process.

Best regards,
Peter


[1] https://github.com/haskell-infra/hackage-trustees/issues/186
Herbert Valerio Riedel
2018-10-30 15:59:19 UTC
Permalink
Peter,

On 2018-10-30 at 16:50:59 +0100, Peter Simons wrote:

[...]
Post by Peter Simons
I tried to contact Malcolm on 2018-09-24 via e-mail. Others have also
tried to reach him through WhatsApp other channels. Unfortunately,
no-one has received a response, which is why we decided to go through
with this process.
It's not completely accurate that *nobody* has received a response: I
have actually received a response from Malcolm last week in order to
coordinate how to have the Hackage Trustees handle the situation; and I
intend to proceed with performing the NMUs during this week.


Herbert
a***@gmail.com
2018-10-31 20:36:44 UTC
Permalink
There's been a spike in package takeover attempts lately, many for packages by well-known members of the community - is there some reason they're all happening?

Tom
I am afraid I have been rather lax at maintaining these packages recently, for which I apologise. Since darcs.haskell.org closed, it has been difficult to publish updates. I am in the process of converting the darcs repositories into git, but I have hit a roadblock in finding a host for these. Github for instance is not able to accept any upload from my version of git (an ancient 1.7.7.5 on MacOS 10.7), because my machine's version of OpenSSL is too old. I have tried various ways to build a newer git, but am so far continuing to fail.
I may go back to keeping the repos in darcs, and find some simple webhosting instead.
Regards,
Malcolm
Post by Herbert Valerio Riedel
Peter,
[...]
Post by Peter Simons
I tried to contact Malcolm on 2018-09-24 via e-mail. Others have also
tried to reach him through WhatsApp other channels. Unfortunately,
no-one has received a response, which is why we decided to go through
with this process.
It's not completely accurate that *nobody* has received a response: I
have actually received a response from Malcolm last week in order to
coordinate how to have the Hackage Trustees handle the situation; and I
intend to proceed with performing the NMUs during this week.
Herbert
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Vanessa McHale
2018-10-31 22:28:11 UTC
Permalink
Are you aware of darcshub? It's where I host all my darcs repositories.

Cheers
I am afraid I have been rather lax at maintaining these packages recently, for which I apologise. Since darcs.haskell.org closed, it has been difficult to publish updates. I am in the process of converting the darcs repositories into git, but I have hit a roadblock in finding a host for these. Github for instance is not able to accept any upload from my version of git (an ancient 1.7.7.5 on MacOS 10.7), because my machine's version of OpenSSL is too old. I have tried various ways to build a newer git, but am so far continuing to fail.
I may go back to keeping the repos in darcs, and find some simple webhosting instead.
Regards,
Malcolm
Post by Herbert Valerio Riedel
Peter,
[...]
Post by Peter Simons
I tried to contact Malcolm on 2018-09-24 via e-mail. Others have also
tried to reach him through WhatsApp other channels. Unfortunately,
no-one has received a response, which is why we decided to go through
with this process.
It's not completely accurate that *nobody* has received a response: I
have actually received a response from Malcolm last week in order to
coordinate how to have the Hackage Trustees handle the situation; and I
intend to proceed with performing the NMUs during this week.
Herbert
_______________________________________________
Libraries mailing list
http://mail.haskell.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/libraries
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http://mail.haskell.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/libraries
Carter Schonwald
2018-10-31 23:39:41 UTC
Permalink
https://hub.darcs.net/ specifically right?
Post by Vanessa McHale
Are you aware of darcshub? It's where I host all my darcs repositories.
Cheers
I am afraid I have been rather lax at maintaining these packages
recently, for which I apologise. Since darcs.haskell.org closed, it has
been difficult to publish updates. I am in the process of converting the
darcs repositories into git, but I have hit a roadblock in finding a host
for these. Github for instance is not able to accept any upload from my
version of git (an ancient 1.7.7.5 on MacOS 10.7), because my machine's
version of OpenSSL is too old. I have tried various ways to build a newer
git, but am so far continuing to fail.
I may go back to keeping the repos in darcs, and find some simple
webhosting instead.
Regards,
Malcolm
Post by Herbert Valerio Riedel
Peter,
[...]
Post by Peter Simons
I tried to contact Malcolm on 2018-09-24 via e-mail. Others have also
tried to reach him through WhatsApp other channels. Unfortunately,
no-one has received a response, which is why we decided to go through
with this process.
It's not completely accurate that *nobody* has received a response: I
have actually received a response from Malcolm last week in order to
coordinate how to have the Hackage Trustees handle the situation; and I
intend to proceed with performing the NMUs during this week.
Herbert
_______________________________________________
Libraries mailing list
http://mail.haskell.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/libraries
_______________________________________________
Libraries mailing list
http://mail.haskell.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/libraries
_______________________________________________
Libraries mailing list
http://mail.haskell.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/libraries
Vanessa McHale
2018-11-01 00:52:22 UTC
Permalink
Yes!
https://hub.darcs.net/  specifically right?
Are you aware of darcshub? It's where I host all my darcs
repositories.
Cheers
I am afraid I have been rather lax at maintaining these packages
recently, for which I apologise.  Since darcs.haskell.org
<http://darcs.haskell.org> closed, it has been difficult to
publish updates.  I am in the process of converting the darcs
repositories into git, but I have hit a roadblock in finding a
host for these.  Github for instance is not able to accept any
upload from my version of git (an ancient 1.7.7.5 on MacOS 10.7),
because my machine's version of OpenSSL is too old.  I have tried
various ways to build a newer git, but am so far continuing to fail.
I may go back to keeping the repos in darcs, and find some
simple webhosting instead.
Regards,
    Malcolm
Post by Herbert Valerio Riedel
Peter,
[...]
Post by Peter Simons
I tried to contact Malcolm on 2018-09-24 via e-mail. Others
have also
Post by Herbert Valerio Riedel
Post by Peter Simons
tried to reach him through WhatsApp other channels. Unfortunately,
no-one has received a response, which is why we decided to go
through
Post by Herbert Valerio Riedel
Post by Peter Simons
with this process.
It's not completely accurate that *nobody* has received a
response: I
Post by Herbert Valerio Riedel
have actually received a response from Malcolm last week in
order to
Post by Herbert Valerio Riedel
coordinate how to have the Hackage Trustees handle the
situation; and I
Post by Herbert Valerio Riedel
intend to proceed with performing the NMUs during this week.
Herbert
_______________________________________________
Libraries mailing list
http://mail.haskell.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/libraries
_______________________________________________
Libraries mailing list
http://mail.haskell.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/libraries
_______________________________________________
Libraries mailing list
http://mail.haskell.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/libraries
Francesco Ariis
2018-11-01 01:11:56 UTC
Permalink
Hello Malcom,
Since darcs.haskell.org closed, it has been difficult to publish updates.
As Vanessa suggested, darcshub is a very good option.

Another immediate solution is to copy the darcs repositories folders into
your web space via FTP (with rsync or sitecopy or weex, etc.) and voilà,
working copies with no hassle, no git, minimal infrastructure needs.
This is what I do [1] and it does the job quite well (in addition to
feeling liberating)
-F

[1] http://ariis.it/link/repos/
Ben Franksen
2018-11-05 10:01:42 UTC
Permalink
Post by Francesco Ariis
Since darcs.haskell.org closed, it has been difficult to publish updates.
As Vanessa suggested, darcshub is a very good option.
Darcs developer here. It is enouraging to see that not everyone has
given up on Darcs.

I agree that hub.darcs.net is probably the most suitable place to host a
Darcs repo nowadays. (It has a few limitations which I hope will be
lifted at some point.)

Cheers
Ben
Simon Michael
2018-11-05 17:07:21 UTC
Permalink
Post by Ben Franksen
Post by Francesco Ariis
Since darcs.haskell.org closed, it has been difficult to publish updates.
As Vanessa suggested, darcshub is a very good option.
Darcs developer here. It is enouraging to see that not everyone has
given up on Darcs.
I agree that hub.darcs.net is probably the most suitable place to host a
Darcs repo nowadays. (It has a few limitations which I hope will be
lifted at some point.)
Darcs hub maintainer here. I'm glad some folks, including haskell
developers, are still finding this useful.

Darcs (David's Advanced Revision Control System) was once a flagship
Haskell project and many of us still have affection for it.

Darcs hub (http://hub.darcs.net) is a github-like hosting site for darcs
users, running since 2012. It is the successor to the earlier
darcs-hosting sites patch-tag.com and darcsden.com. It currently has
2800 repos, public and private, and 1400 user accounts. If you try it
and want to push/pull via ssh, you'll need to follow the "How do I
connect with ssh?" FAQ entry on the front page.

Unfortunately for a while now I have been able to give it only essential
maintenance and support time. I currently don't have much idea what's
happening on darcs hub, except when I hear about problems from users or
the hosting provider (Linode).

This works ok, but I periodically wonder

- how much need there is for this site to continue

- if worthwhile funding could be raised for it

- how long I should continue hosting it in "free time", unable to
improve things much, and on call for unpredictable urgent data
loss/compromise/legal compliance work

- if I were to stop, whether handoff to a new owner would end up
successful, or if I should just wind it down and let others do what they
will

Darcs hub is humming along fine. I'm just taking the opportunity to put
out some thoughts, and would like to hear yours...

Best!
-Simon
Carter Schonwald
2018-11-05 19:30:10 UTC
Permalink
maybe this is a conversation you can have with haskell.org and/or the
haskell infrastructure teams?
Post by Ben Franksen
On Wed, Oct 31, 2018 at 08:17:03PM +0000, Malcolm Wallace via Libraries
Since darcs.haskell.org closed, it has been difficult to publish
updates.
Post by Ben Franksen
As Vanessa suggested, darcshub is a very good option.
Darcs developer here. It is enouraging to see that not everyone has
given up on Darcs.
I agree that hub.darcs.net is probably the most suitable place to host a
Darcs repo nowadays. (It has a few limitations which I hope will be
lifted at some point.)
Darcs hub maintainer here. I'm glad some folks, including haskell
developers, are still finding this useful.
Darcs (David's Advanced Revision Control System) was once a flagship
Haskell project and many of us still have affection for it.
Darcs hub (http://hub.darcs.net) is a github-like hosting site for darcs
users, running since 2012. It is the successor to the earlier
darcs-hosting sites patch-tag.com and darcsden.com. It currently has
2800 repos, public and private, and 1400 user accounts. If you try it
and want to push/pull via ssh, you'll need to follow the "How do I
connect with ssh?" FAQ entry on the front page.
Unfortunately for a while now I have been able to give it only essential
maintenance and support time. I currently don't have much idea what's
happening on darcs hub, except when I hear about problems from users or
the hosting provider (Linode).
This works ok, but I periodically wonder
- how much need there is for this site to continue
- if worthwhile funding could be raised for it
- how long I should continue hosting it in "free time", unable to
improve things much, and on call for unpredictable urgent data
loss/compromise/legal compliance work
- if I were to stop, whether handoff to a new owner would end up
successful, or if I should just wind it down and let others do what they
will
Darcs hub is humming along fine. I'm just taking the opportunity to put
out some thoughts, and would like to hear yours...
Best!
-Simon
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Libraries mailing list
http://mail.haskell.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/libraries
Henning Thielemann
2018-11-01 20:52:02 UTC
Permalink
I am afraid I have been rather lax at maintaining these packages
recently, for which I apologise. Since darcs.haskell.org closed, it has
been difficult to publish updates. I am in the process of converting
the darcs repositories into git, but I have hit a roadblock in finding a
host for these.
I'd prefer conversion to darcs-2 and move to hub.darcs.net.
Niklas Hambüchen
2018-11-05 18:56:46 UTC
Permalink
At risk of stating the obvious, it is quite important for security of our ecosystem that maintainers of key components use up-to-date software.

Both Git and OpenSSL have had serious security bugs in the recent past, including remote-code execution in the case of Git.
Github for instance is not able to accept any upload from my version of git (an ancient 1.7.7.5 on MacOS 10.7), because my machine's version of OpenSSL is too old. I have tried various ways to build a newer git, but am so far continuing to fail.
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