Packages from the 1990s and 2000s

EdGr · 08-08-2019, 10:34 AM

Here is a modest suggestion: go through the list of packages and consider removing the ones that have not been updated in the past decade. Many of them are only of historical interest. Users who want them can get the source code from older Slackware releases.

This could reduce the maintenance effort.
Ed

Code:

% cd slackware64/source
% ls -Ggtr */*/*.tar.?z | sed 's/^.\{23\}//g' | head -n 117
Dec  2  1993 xap/xgames/xroach.tar.gz
Dec  4  1993 xap/xgames/xcuckoo-1.1.tar.gz
Dec  4  1993 xap/xgames/xcolormap.tar.gz
Dec  4  1993 xap/xgames/spider.tar.gz
Feb 18  1994 n/metamail/metamail-2.7.tar.xz
Oct 22  1994 xap/xgames/maze.tar.gz
Dec 22  1994 xap/xv/xv-3.10.tar.xz
Dec 30  1994 a/zoo/zoo-2.10.tar.gz
Jun 17  1995 xap/xgames/xlander.tar.gz
Aug 23  1995 n/icmpinfo/icmpinfo-1.11.tar.gz
Jul 25  1996 ap/seejpeg/libjpeg-6a.tar.gz
Aug 15  1996 n/netdate/netdate.tar.gz
Jun 15  1997 a/bin/todos.tar.gz
Mar  4  1998 n/ppp/pppsetup-1.98.tar.xz
Sep  7  1998 a/devs/makedev_2.3.1.orig.tar.gz
Nov  2  1998 tcl/hfsutils/hfsutils-3.2.6.tar.gz
Jan 30  1999 n/netpipes/netpipes-4.2-export.tar.gz
Feb  7  1999 n/netpipes/_netpipes.tar.gz
Mar 17  1999 ap/amp/amp-0.7.6.tar.gz
Mar 18  1999 n/bootp/bootp_2.4.3.orig.tar.gz
Apr  1  1999 xap/windowmaker/WindowMaker-extra-0.1.tar.xz
May  9  1999 xap/seyon/seyon-2.20c.tar.gz
Jul  8  1999 a/tar/tar-1.13.tar.gz
Aug  4  1999 xap/xgames/xneko.tar.gz
Sep 19  1999 a/minicom/lrzsz_0.12.21.orig.tar.gz
Oct  7  1999 a/bin/fbset-2.1.tar.gz
Apr 30  2000 ap/seejpeg/_seejpeg.tar.gz
Jun  8  2000 n/netkit-ntalk/netkit-ntalk-0.11.tar.gz
Jul 31  2000 n/telnet/netkit-telnet-0.17.tar.gz
Jul 31  2000 n/netwrite/netwrite-0.17.tar.gz
Jul 31  2000 n/netkit-timed/netkit-timed-0.17.tar.gz
Jul 31  2000 n/netkit-rwho/netkit-rwho-0.17.tar.gz
Jul 31  2000 n/netkit-rwall/netkit-rwall-0.17.tar.gz
Jul 31  2000 n/netkit-rusers/netkit-rusers-0.17.tar.gz
Jul 31  2000 n/netkit-rsh/netkit-rsh-0.17.tar.gz
Jul 31  2000 n/netkit-routed/netkit-routed-0.17.tar.gz
Jul 31  2000 n/netkit-ntalk/netkit-ntalk-0.17.tar.gz
Jul 31  2000 n/netkit-ftp/netkit-ftp-0.17.tar.gz
Jul 31  2000 n/netkit-bootparamd/netkit-bootparamd-0.17.tar.gz
Jul 31  2000 n/bsd-finger/bsd-finger-0.17.tar.gz
Jul 31  2000 n/biff+comsat/biff+comsat-0.17.tar.gz
Dec 15  2000 a/lha/lha-114i.tar.gz
Jan  2  2001 ap/bpe/bpe-2.01.00.tar.gz
Feb  6  2001 n/inetd/inetd-OpenBSD-1.79.tar.gz
Mar  2  2001 a/procps-ng/procinfo-18.tar.xz
Apr  3  2001 n/rdist/rdist-6.1.5.tar.gz
Apr 26  2001 l/aalib/aalib-1.4rc5.tar.gz
Aug 21  2001 n/procmail/_procmail.tar.gz
Sep 11  2001 n/procmail/procmail-3.22.tar.gz
Dec 15  2001 xap/xgames/xsnow-1.42.tar.gz
Feb 24  2002 ap/amp/_amp.tar.gz
Mar 10  2002 y/bsd-games/fortunes-linuxcookie.tar.gz
Mar 14  2002 xap/xfractint/palette.maps.tar.gz
Mar 22  2002 n/telnet/telnet-OpenBSD-20020321.tar.gz
Jun  5  2002 a/unarj/unarj265.tar.gz
Nov 24  2002 n/alpine/pinepgp-0.18.0.tar.gz
Nov 27  2002 a/rpm2tgz/getrpmtype.tar.gz
Mar  2  2003 l/id3lib/id3lib-3.8.3.tar.lz
May  5  2003 n/newspost/newspost-2.1.1.tar.gz
Jun  4  2003 n/uucp/uucp-1.07.tar.gz
Jun  5  2003 n/uucp/_uucp.tar.gz
Jan  3  2004 ap/cups/cups-samba-5.0rc3.tar.gz
Feb 17  2004 l/libmad/libmad-0.15.1b.tar.gz
Feb 17  2004 l/libid3tag/libid3tag-0.15.1b.tar.gz
Feb 22  2004 n/tcp_wrappers/tcp_wrappers_7.6.tar.gz
Feb 23  2004 ap/madplay/madplay-0.15.2b.tar.xz
Feb 24  2004 a/bin/debianutils_2.7.tar.gz
Jan  4  2005 a/genpower/genpower-1.0.5.tar.gz
Feb 18  2005 y/bsd-games/bsd-games-2.17.tar.lz
Mar  3  2005 a/floppy/fdutils-5.5.tar.xz
Mar 16  2005 n/epic5/epic-help-current.tar.xz
Jul  7  2005 d/pmake/pmake-1.111.tar.gz
Jul 21  2005 a/getty-ps/getty_ps-2.1.0b.tar.gz
Sep 18  2005 xap/sane/sane-frontends-1.0.14.tar.xz
Oct 18  2005 n/pidentd/pidentd-3.0.19.tar.gz
Feb 14  2006 ap/rzip/rzip-2.1.tar.gz
Apr 19  2006 ap/cups/cups-windows-6.0-source.tar.xz
Jun  9  2006 n/bootp/_bootp.tar.gz
Jun 14  2006 l/libwmf/libwmf-0.2.8.4.tar.xz
Sep 20  2006 a/devs/_devs.tar.gz
Feb 18  2007 xap/fvwm/ancient-icons.tar.gz
Mar 16  2007 a/pcmciautils/cis-cs-3.2.8.tar.gz
Apr  7  2007 xap/gkrellm/gkrellm-countdown-0.1.2.tar.gz
Dec 23  2007 l/t1lib/t1lib-5.1.2.tar.xz
Dec 29  2007 ap/a2ps/a2ps-4.14.tar.xz
Mar  5  2008 ap/dvd+rw-tools/dvd+rw-tools-7.1.tar.gz
Mar 10  2008 n/ppp/freeradius-client-1.1.6.tar.xz
May 19  2008 ap/libx86/libx86-1.1.tar.gz
Jul  5  2008 a/infozip/zip30.tar.xz
Jul 28  2008 tcl/tix/Tix8.4.3.tar.gz
Sep 11  2008 ap/cdparanoia/cdparanoia-III-10.2.src.tar.gz
Oct 25  2008 xap/xgames/xminesweep3.0.tar.gz
Jan  2  2009 a/infozip/unzip60.tar.xz
Feb  7  2009 x/anthy/anthy-9100h.tar.xz
Feb 11  2009 xap/ddd/ddd-3.3.12.tar.xz
Feb 15  2009 a/mtx/mtx-1.3.12.tar.gz
Feb 21  2009 l/icon-naming-utils/icon-naming-utils-0.8.90.tar.gz
Feb 26  2009 l/tango-icon-theme/tango-icon-theme-0.8.90.tar.lz
Mar  6  2009 xap/electricsheep/electricsheep-20090306.tar.xz
Mar  9  2009 l/gamin/gamin-0.1.10.tar.xz
Mar 23  2009 l/esound/esound-0.2.41.tar.lz
Apr  6  2009 l/libcddb/libcddb-1.3.2.tar.xz
Apr 19  2009 x/scim-m17n/scim-m17n-0.2.3.tar.gz
Apr 20  2009 x/wqy-zenhei-font-ttf/wqy-zenhei-0.8.38-1.tar.lz
Apr 27  2009 a/procps-ng/procinfo-ng-2.0.304.tar.xz
May 19  2009 l/judy/Judy-1.0.5.tar.xz
May 30  2009 a/util-linux/ziptool-1.4.0.tar.xz
May 30  2009 a/util-linux/setserial-2.17.tar.gz
May 30  2009 a/util-linux/bsdstrings.tar.gz
Jul  9  2009 ap/vim/ctags-5.8.tar.xz
Jul 20  2009 xap/x11-ssh-askpass/x11-ssh-askpass-1.2.4.1.tar.gz
Sep  3  2009 xap/blackbox/bbkeys-0.9.1.tar.lz
Sep 21  2009 l/taglib-extras/taglib-extras-1.0.1.tar.gz
Oct 15  2009 l/libasyncns/libasyncns-0.8.tar.xz
Oct 23  2009 l/gtkspell/gtkspell-2.0.16.tar.xz
Oct 30  2009 l/lcms/lcms-1.19.tar.xz
Dec 18  2009 a/mkinitrd/keymaps.tar.gz

montagdude · 08-08-2019, 10:44 AM

How would removing them reduce the maintenance effort if they have not been updated in the last decade?

Lysander666 · 08-08-2019, 10:44 AM

LILO hasn't been updated for years, maybe we should get rid of that as well.

hitest · 08-08-2019, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lysander666

LILO hasn't been updated for years, maybe we should get rid of that as well.

Lilo has served me well for 15 years. I don't see a need to replace it. Patrick mentioned that he will maintain lilo.

Lysander666 · 08-08-2019, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hitest

Lilo has served me well for 15 years. I don't see a need to replace it. Patrick mentioned that he will maintain lilo.

I was joking... sometimes British humour doesn't come across very well without emoticons.

Labinnah · 08-08-2019, 10:52 AM

If something works updates is not required. I'm against remove anything if not broken. Especially Pat build something only if it is required by external reasons (i.e. so version bump).

Moreover some of thing you mention I've used lately, and some are basic tools used in troubleshooting, system maintenance or testing.

An I quite sure you use one of this things TODAY and you like it (bsd-games fortune cookie).

hitest · 08-08-2019, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lysander666

I was joking... sometimes British humour doesn't come across very well without emoticons.

Haha! Indeed. It is often difficult to determine the emotional content in posts.

GazL · 08-08-2019, 10:55 AM

I dare say there are a few good candidates for moving to pasture/ but not all of those are as useless as EdGr believes.

EdGr · 08-08-2019, 10:55 AM

I meant that the source code hasn't been updated in a decade. The binaries still need to be built and installed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Labinnah

An I quite sure you use one of this things TODAY and you like it (bsd-games fortune cookie).

I don't install bsd-games because I got tired of being pummeled by the fortunes.
Ed

GazL · 08-08-2019, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EdGr

I meant that the source code hasn't been updated in a decade. The binaries still need to be built and installed.
Ed

I know it's a strange concept, and in this modern era things are continually modified, or even thrown out just when they're getting good in order to start again (Gnome 2), but in the old days one might actually finish a program. I suggest that perhaps they don't need updating because they're 'complete'.

montagdude · 08-08-2019, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EdGr

I meant that the source code hasn't been updated in a decade. The binaries still need to be built and installed.

I see. I didn't catch that. Still, most of those are only rarely rebuilt anyway. For example, xgames was rebuilt last year during the mass rebuild, but before that it hadn't appeared in the ChangeLog since 2011. I don't think the maintenance burden for these things is large enough to be worth removing them. Maybe if something fails to rebuild one day, but that would be on a case-by-case basis.

GazL · 08-08-2019, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EdGr

I meant that the source code hasn't been updated in a decade. The binaries still need to be built and installed.

I don't install bsd-games because I got tired of being pummeled by the fortunes.
Ed

But!... But!... how do you play ATC?

You could have just chmod -x'd the /etc/profile.d/bsd-games-login-fortune.sh.

hitest · 08-08-2019, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EdGr

I don't install bsd-games because I got tired of being pummeled by the fortunes.
Ed

Really? I like the witicisms and avant-garde comments, sayings. Each to his/her own.

EdGr · 08-08-2019, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GazL

I know it's a strange concept, and in this modern era things are continually modified, or even thrown out just when they're getting good in order to start again (Gnome 2), but in the old days one might actually finish a program. I suggest that perhaps they don't need updating because they're 'complete'.

There is nothing wrong with old working code, but the source not being updated in a decade implies that no-one is likely using them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by montagdude

I see. I didn't catch that. Still, most of those are only rarely rebuilt anyway. For example, xgames was rebuilt last year during the mass rebuild, but before that it hadn't appeared in the ChangeLog since 2011. I don't think the maintenance burden for these things is large enough to be worth removing them. Maybe if something fails to rebuild one day, but that would be on a case-by-case basis.

There is a cost in users installing them and sifting through /usr/bin (for example). This would be okay if the programs were still useful.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hitest

Really? I like the witicisms and avant-garde comments, sayings. Each to his/her own.

Along with the witty quotes, there are also offensive ones. I don't miss those.
Ed

montagdude · 08-08-2019, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EdGr

There is nothing wrong with old working code, but the source not being updated in a decade implies that no-one is likely using them.

Based on what?

Quote:

Originally Posted by EdGr

There is a cost in users installing them and sifting through /usr/bin (for example). This would be okay if the programs were still useful.

Who is forcing you to sift through /usr/bin, and why do you think your arbitrary 1 decade time limit determines what is useful?

With all due respect, I don't see much of a logical case presented here. All I see are a bunch of bad assumptions.