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Do I understand correctly that you're asking why a distribution would remove a package at all, if it currently works just fine? The answer is mainly security i
by lucb1e 7y ago
Do I understand correctly that you're asking why a distribution would remove a package at all, if it currently works just fine?
The answer is mainly security issues and compatibility bugs. If a package is abandoned, it is typically removed. Someone needs to write updates both to fix newly found security problems and general issues with other new packages. Perhaps we'll switch from the init system systemd to systemf, and some package depended on that. Then it won't work in a new version anymore. Like someone else commented, it's nothing but work.
I'm not sure why it is removed before any such issues arise or become known. My best guess is that it should prevent the removal from becoming super urgent once a vulnerability becomes known. If it is still used by anyone, they should either become the maintainer or (in this case the more realistic option than becoming a maintainer for python2) update the code to python3.
Not sure why you're being downvoted though, it seems like a legitimate question: "it works, why bother even removing it?"
- dooglius 7y agoYes, I was under the impression that distros would keep providing a lot of old packages that no one was looking at much anymore, until they actually started to cause problems.
- _-___________-_ 7y agoIncluding it in the distro means people will use it. Since it's unmaintained, that basically assures security vulnerabilities. Avoiding this situation is one of the main reasons people use distros.
- PeterisP 7y agoThe reason why it's removed before any such issues arise or become known is because Debian can't remove it afterwards - if they have included it in a release, they have committed to ensure that it's supported until the EOL of that release; and if noone upstream is supporting it, then it would fall upon them to provide these fixes. You can't simply remove packages from a release after it's shipped; either your release includes that package completely (including a commit to support them for the whole lifetime of your release) or not at all.