Removed ports - looking from the bench

[Matthias Andree]

Am 10.09.2011 10:40, schrieb Doug Barton:
> The way that the FreeBSD project handles deleted ports is to leave them
> in the CVS repository, where they are easily available to everyone who
> would like to access them.
> 
> However I think that your idea is interesting, and I'd love to see the
> people who are deeply concerned about deleted ports pursue it as an
> independent project. If they do, I will personally put a reference to it
> in the Handbook. :)

I think the question that we can find an easy answer to is see to
documenting and possibly providing a script that checks out ports from
anoncvs's Attic for them.  Along with some documentation explaining
typical upgrade chores, like removing shared library versions from the
_DEPENDS lines.  If it then fails to build, the user knows why we killed
the port -- and/or it can serve a starting point for those who try to
polish it, and possibly submit.  A committer could, after a PR, possibly
stuff new submissions in the attic.  We're out of responsibility for
anything, users can still have it.

Fewer questions asked, no CVS skills needed, and a lower barrier for
users to get to the work we have done in the past but are no longer
carrying forward.

I somewhat dislike the idea of keeping a separate repository though, and
I want to make installing dead ports harder for users.  Collecting all
places where relevant documentation is required would take some time,
and could be a job up for grabs for non-developers.