Bug#1038463: cegui-mk2: Is this library still useful to have in Debian?

[Olek Wojnar]

Control: tag -1 + moreinfo

On 6/18/23 11:55, Simon McVittie wrote:
> While opening bugs for packages that depend on libsdl1.2, I noticed
> that cegui-mk2 seems to be a library that is not depended on by anything
> in Debian. Is it still useful to have in the distribution?

That's a very fair question. I would submit that the value of continuing 
to maintain CEGUI is as a programming and development tool for our 
users; especially if I ever have a spare moment to package CEED [1]. 
That is a well-featured editor for creating GUIs (using CEGUI) in 
developmental programs.

However, the latest stable release *IS* very old at this point and is 
becoming difficult to maintain. I messaged the developers to ask about 
their plans for a newer release. Once they respond, I will update this bug.

> Looking at https://qa.debian.org/popcon.php?package=cegui-mk2, there
> were a relatively large number of installations in the 2008-2010 period,
> and a dramatic drop after 2010. I assume this is a result of some game
> that used to use cegui-mk2 either switching away from it or being removed
> from Debian.

I believe that's when Ember (which I also previously maintained) went 
into heavy development and we ultimately decided to remove it from 
Debian. I'm not aware of any other programs that use (or have used) 
CEGUI. Oh, wait. That was more recent. In the 2010 timeframe I believe 
there was a temporary loss of momentum upstream. I may be misremembering 
that. In any case, too much development or not enough, Ember 
installations likely impacted CEGUI installations in Debian.

> If cegui-mk2 is no longer useful, we could remove it from the archive to
> avoid it taking up QA time.

I agree in principle. However, we might not have the same definition of 
"useful." :) I will say that if upstream is not open to releasing an 
updated version then my willingness to devote extensive time to keeping 
this package current will likely diminish. As will my perception of its 
usefulness in Debian.

> If it's removed, as far as I can see, we could also remove irrlicht (which
> was previously a dependency for minetest, but minetest has switched to
> a vendored fork of irrlicht).

I don't know much about that package but if there isn't a strong 
argument to keep it as a resource for software developers who use 
Debian, then I agree it would no longer be useful.

Also, thanks for bringing this up! It's a tough conversation to have but 
it *IS* a conversation that we should be having.


-Olek

[1] https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=962308