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* On packaging old versions of libraries
@ 2017-08-23 15:42 Mike Gerwitz
  2017-08-23 22:20 ` Roel Janssen
                   ` (2 more replies)
  0 siblings, 3 replies; 6+ messages in thread
From: Mike Gerwitz @ 2017-08-23 15:42 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: guix-devel

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There is a game my kids love playing named Secret Mayro
Chronicles.  Unfortunately, it's been unmaintained since 2012, and it
was removed from Debian because it is no longer compatible with newer
versions of libraries they package.[0]  There is a maintained fork of
the game, but it's quite different from the original (intentionally).

I have the option of compiling it using old libraries (I would have to
compile the old libraries' dependencies as well, as needed), upgrade the
game by backporting changes from the fork (which I honestly doubt I have
the time for right now, but I'll look into it), or run the game within a
VM/container running an old Debian version.

I'm going to look into what is required to backport, but if I decided to
go the first route, I would probably use Guix.  Would such a
contribution be accepted considering it packages older libraries, which
would add some cruft?  At the least, I would have to compile CEGUI 0.7,
but that might need older versions of libraries itself to compile.


[0]: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=812096

-- 
Mike Gerwitz
Free Software Hacker+Activist | GNU Maintainer & Volunteer
GPG: D6E9 B930 028A 6C38 F43B  2388 FEF6 3574 5E6F 6D05
https://mikegerwitz.com

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^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 6+ messages in thread

* Re: On packaging old versions of libraries
  2017-08-23 15:42 On packaging old versions of libraries Mike Gerwitz
@ 2017-08-23 22:20 ` Roel Janssen
  2017-08-24  4:35   ` Mike Gerwitz
  2017-08-25  3:06 ` Eric Bavier
  2017-08-25  3:27 ` Mark H Weaver
  2 siblings, 1 reply; 6+ messages in thread
From: Roel Janssen @ 2017-08-23 22:20 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Mike Gerwitz; +Cc: guix-devel


Mike Gerwitz writes:

> There is a game my kids love playing named Secret Mayro
> Chronicles.  Unfortunately, it's been unmaintained since 2012, and it
> was removed from Debian because it is no longer compatible with newer
> versions of libraries they package.[0]  There is a maintained fork of
> the game, but it's quite different from the original (intentionally).
>
> I have the option of compiling it using old libraries (I would have to
> compile the old libraries' dependencies as well, as needed), upgrade the
> game by backporting changes from the fork (which I honestly doubt I have
> the time for right now, but I'll look into it), or run the game within a
> VM/container running an old Debian version.
>
> I'm going to look into what is required to backport, but if I decided to
> go the first route, I would probably use Guix.  Would such a
> contribution be accepted considering it packages older libraries, which
> would add some cruft?  At the least, I would have to compile CEGUI0.7,
> but that might need older versions of libraries itself to compile.
>
>
> [0]: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=812096

Regardless of whether older versions of libraries would be accepted
upstream, you can also keep them in a separate repository or directory
and use the environment variable GUIX_PACKAGE_PATH to include them in
your Guix.

Kind regards,
Roel Janssen

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 6+ messages in thread

* Re: On packaging old versions of libraries
  2017-08-23 22:20 ` Roel Janssen
@ 2017-08-24  4:35   ` Mike Gerwitz
  0 siblings, 0 replies; 6+ messages in thread
From: Mike Gerwitz @ 2017-08-24  4:35 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Roel Janssen; +Cc: guix-devel

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On Thu, Aug 24, 2017 at 00:20:34 +0200, Roel Janssen wrote:
> Regardless of whether older versions of libraries would be accepted
> upstream, you can also keep them in a separate repository or directory
> and use the environment variable GUIX_PACKAGE_PATH to include them in

Right, I just want my efforts to be useful to someone else as well.

-- 
Mike Gerwitz
Free Software Hacker+Activist | GNU Maintainer & Volunteer
GPG: D6E9 B930 028A 6C38 F43B  2388 FEF6 3574 5E6F 6D05
https://mikegerwitz.com

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^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 6+ messages in thread

* Re: On packaging old versions of libraries
  2017-08-23 15:42 On packaging old versions of libraries Mike Gerwitz
  2017-08-23 22:20 ` Roel Janssen
@ 2017-08-25  3:06 ` Eric Bavier
  2017-08-25  7:07   ` Pjotr Prins
  2017-08-25  3:27 ` Mark H Weaver
  2 siblings, 1 reply; 6+ messages in thread
From: Eric Bavier @ 2017-08-25  3:06 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Mike Gerwitz; +Cc: guix-devel

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On Wed, 23 Aug 2017 11:42:51 -0400
Mike Gerwitz <mtg@gnu.org> wrote:

> There is a game my kids love playing named Secret Mayro
> Chronicles.  Unfortunately, it's been unmaintained since 2012, and it
> was removed from Debian because it is no longer compatible with newer
> versions of libraries they package.[0]  There is a maintained fork of
> the game, but it's quite different from the original (intentionally).
> 
> I have the option of compiling it using old libraries (I would have to
> compile the old libraries' dependencies as well, as needed), upgrade the
> game by backporting changes from the fork (which I honestly doubt I have
> the time for right now, but I'll look into it), or run the game within a
> VM/container running an old Debian version.
> 
> I'm going to look into what is required to backport, but if I decided to
> go the first route, I would probably use Guix.  Would such a
> contribution be accepted considering it packages older libraries, which
> would add some cruft?  At the least, I would have to compile CEGUI 0.7,
> but that might need older versions of libraries itself to compile.

I think this would be fine as long as there are no known security
issues in those older libraries.  The packages could even be private to
the maryo chronicles package so that they are not available for users
to install.

FWIW my kids would love to play this game too. :)

`~Eric
 
> 
> [0]: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=812096
> 


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^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 6+ messages in thread

* Re: On packaging old versions of libraries
  2017-08-23 15:42 On packaging old versions of libraries Mike Gerwitz
  2017-08-23 22:20 ` Roel Janssen
  2017-08-25  3:06 ` Eric Bavier
@ 2017-08-25  3:27 ` Mark H Weaver
  2 siblings, 0 replies; 6+ messages in thread
From: Mark H Weaver @ 2017-08-25  3:27 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Mike Gerwitz; +Cc: guix-devel

Hi Mike,

Mike Gerwitz <mtg@gnu.org> writes:

> There is a game my kids love playing named Secret Mayro
> Chronicles.  Unfortunately, it's been unmaintained since 2012, and it
> was removed from Debian because it is no longer compatible with newer
> versions of libraries they package.[0]  There is a maintained fork of
> the game, but it's quite different from the original (intentionally).
>
> I have the option of compiling it using old libraries (I would have to
> compile the old libraries' dependencies as well, as needed), upgrade the
> game by backporting changes from the fork (which I honestly doubt I have
> the time for right now, but I'll look into it), or run the game within a
> VM/container running an old Debian version.
>
> I'm going to look into what is required to backport, but if I decided to
> go the first route, I would probably use Guix.  Would such a
> contribution be accepted considering it packages older libraries, which
> would add some cruft?  At the least, I would have to compile CEGUI 0.7,
> but that might need older versions of libraries itself to compile.

I don't see a problem with adding an older version of CEGUI, but if
other older libraries will be needed as well, I think we'd need to look
at the details before making a decision.  The main issue is that it
potentially adds to our maintenance burden with regard to security
updates.  If these older libraries are still being competently
maintained (e.g. by upstream or by a reputable distro), or if the
libraries in question are not security sensitive, then it's probably
fine.

In many cases, a dependency on an older library can be fixed with a
small patch.  I don't expect that the dependence on CEGUI-0.7 could be
eliminated that way, but if CEGUI-0.7 depends on other older libraries,
perhaps CEGUI-0.7 can be patched to avoid that.

I would encourage you to investigate further and let us know which older
libraries would be needed, and then we can discuss it further.

     Regards,
       Mark

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 6+ messages in thread

* Re: On packaging old versions of libraries
  2017-08-25  3:06 ` Eric Bavier
@ 2017-08-25  7:07   ` Pjotr Prins
  0 siblings, 0 replies; 6+ messages in thread
From: Pjotr Prins @ 2017-08-25  7:07 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Eric Bavier; +Cc: guix-devel

On Thu, Aug 24, 2017 at 10:06:43PM -0500, Eric Bavier wrote:
> > I'm going to look into what is required to backport, but if I decided to
> > go the first route, I would probably use Guix.  Would such a
> > contribution be accepted considering it packages older libraries, which
> > would add some cruft?  At the least, I would have to compile CEGUI 0.7,
> > but that might need older versions of libraries itself to compile.
> 
> I think this would be fine as long as there are no known security
> issues in those older libraries.  The packages could even be private to
> the maryo chronicles package so that they are not available for users
> to install.
> 
> FWIW my kids would love to play this game too. :)

This is why we need channels.

Pj.

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 6+ messages in thread

end of thread, other threads:[~2017-08-25  7:08 UTC | newest]

Thread overview: 6+ messages (download: mbox.gz / follow: Atom feed)
-- links below jump to the message on this page --
2017-08-23 15:42 On packaging old versions of libraries Mike Gerwitz
2017-08-23 22:20 ` Roel Janssen
2017-08-24  4:35   ` Mike Gerwitz
2017-08-25  3:06 ` Eric Bavier
2017-08-25  7:07   ` Pjotr Prins
2017-08-25  3:27 ` Mark H Weaver

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