[DRE-maint] Bug#1110190: larch: Should larch be removed from unstable?

[Andreas Tille]

Source: larch
Version: 1.1.2-2.1
Severity: important
X-Debbugs-Cc: Debian Ruby Team <pkg-ruby-extras-maintainers at lists.alioth.debian.org>, Martina Ferrari <tina at debian.org>, Package Salvaging Team <team+salvage at tracker.debian.org>

Dear Martina and Ruby team,
 
I suggest removing larch from Debian for the following reasons:
 
 * Upstream has archived the git repository back in 2017
 * The package is failing its autopkgtest in Salsa CI[1] with the
   message: Could not find 'highline'
 * Upstream author said in the metadata that it works with highline 1.x,
   and we are now at 3.x. does it still work? who knows,
   there is no test suite
 * Failing the autopkgtest will prevent the package to testing
   so we will create a RC bug sooner or later.
 * There are very few votes (green line) in popcon
   https://qa.debian.org/popcon-graph.php?packages=larch&show_installed=on&show_vote=on&want_legend=on&want_ticks=on&from_date=&to_date=&hlght_date=&date_fmt=%25Y-%25m&beenhere=1
 * The last upload of this package was in 2016 - is there any
   remaining interest in maintaining this package?
 
This bug serves as a pre-removal warning. After one month, the bug will be
reassigned to ftp.debian.org to actually request removal of the package.
 
In case the package should be kept in unstable, please provide some
information how we could sensibly fix the autopkgtest.  I'd happily
volunteer to finalise the upload if you can either provide patch here
or commit a solution to Git.
 
In case the package should be removed from unstable, you may reassign this
bug report:
 
    Control: severity -1 normal
    Control: retitle -1 RM: larch -- RoM; rc-buggy
    Control: reassign -1 ftp.debian.org
    Control: affects -1 + src:larch
 
Alternatively, you may wait a month and have it reassigned.
 
In case you disagree with the above, please add a wontfix tag to this bug.
 
    Control: tags -1 + wontfix
 
Doing so will also prevent automatic reassignment.
 
This package was highlighted in the Bug of the Day[2] initiative, which
aims to introduce newcomers to manageable tasks and guide them through
the workflow to solve them. The focus of this initiative is on migrating
packages to Salsa, as it's a great way to help newcomers become familiar
with a consistent Git-based workflow.
 
Kind regards
   Andreas.
 
[1] https://salsa.debian.org/ruby-team/larch/-/jobs/7897195
[2] https://salsa.debian.org/qa/tiny_qa_tools/-/wikis/Tiny-QA-tasks



-- System Information:
Debian Release: 13.0
  APT prefers testing
  APT policy: (501, 'testing'), (50, 'buildd-unstable'), (50, 'unstable'), (5, 'experimental'), (1, 'buildd-experimental')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)

Kernel: Linux 6.12.27-amd64 (SMP w/4 CPU threads; PREEMPT)
Locale: LANG=de_DE.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=de_DE.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8), LANGUAGE=de_DE:de
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /usr/bin/dash
Init: systemd (via /run/systemd/system)
LSM: AppArmor: enabled