Subject: Re: [bug#32482] [PATCH] gnu: obnam: Add deprecation warning.

From: Leo Famulari <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2018 17:38:56 -0400

On Thu, Aug 23, 2018 at 04:55:23PM +0200, Ludovic Courtès wrote:
> Hi!
> 
> (+Cc: Leo.)
> 
> Tobias Geerinckx-Rice <[email-masked]> skribis:
> 
> > * gnu/packages/backup.scm (obnam)[synopsis, description]: Note its
> > retirement.
> > ---
> >
> > Guix!
> >
> > A bit silly since the package fails to build anyway[0]. I'm not capable nor willing to fix it. Debian's (actually, upstream's) ‘solution’ was simply to remove the package[0].
> >
> > I'd rather follow their example if nobody steps up to fix it, but Leo[1] made a good point about removing backup tools that may be someone's only link to the past.
> 
> The patch LGTM!

+1 

> > An alternative is to add a prominent deprecation warning to our obnam package. Something like this. There's no clear successor or alternative to use with DEPRECATED-PACKAGE.
> 
> If this sort of problem occurs frequently enough, we could add a special
> “obsolete” or “insecure” package property and have the UI print a
> warning when attempting to install such a package.

Yes, it could be helpful. Although, the question of what is "obsolete"
and "insecure" is relative and subjective ;)