From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Mark H Weaver Subject: Re: On packaging old versions of libraries Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2017 23:27:19 -0400 Message-ID: <87inhcuy20.fsf@netris.org> References: <87tw0yl284.fsf@gnu.org> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Return-path: Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([2001:4830:134:3::10]:38963) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1dl5Kz-0006c0-9n for guix-devel@gnu.org; Thu, 24 Aug 2017 23:31:14 -0400 Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1dl5Kw-00040R-75 for guix-devel@gnu.org; Thu, 24 Aug 2017 23:31:13 -0400 In-Reply-To: <87tw0yl284.fsf@gnu.org> (Mike Gerwitz's message of "Wed, 23 Aug 2017 11:42:51 -0400") List-Id: "Development of GNU Guix and the GNU System distribution." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: guix-devel-bounces+gcggd-guix-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Sender: "Guix-devel" To: Mike Gerwitz Cc: guix-devel@gnu.org Hi Mike, 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 CEGUI=C2=A00= .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