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probonopd / linuxdeployqt

Makes Linux applications self-contained by copying in the libraries and plugins that the application uses, and optionally generates an AppImage. Can be used for Qt and other applications
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Why do the releases say "Do not use anymore"? #624

Closed benma closed 3 days ago

benma commented 4 days ago

E.g. https://github.com/probonopd/linuxdeployqt/releases/tag/9

I get that according to the README, linuxdeployqt is not maintained anymore:

Please note: As of 2024 , I am no longer actively working on this codebase in favor of https://github.com/probonopd/go-appimage.

But why mark the previous releases as "Do not use anymore"? Is there a specific reason that they should not be used?

The proposed alternative at https://github.com/probonopd/go-appimage/blob/master/src/appimagetool/README.md seems like it's not a viable alternative right now, at least when using QtWebEngine:

This is an experimental implementation [...] Bundle QtWebEngine (untested)

So using the existing releases of this repo cannot be avoided without a lot of effort.

benma commented 4 days ago

If this repo is not maintained anymore, please consider finding a new maintainer/developer to take over. This project is really useful! Thanks.

probonopd commented 3 days ago

https://github.com/probonopd/linuxdeployqt/releases/tag/continuous is the only supported one. The others are old versions that are no longer supported.

benma commented 3 days ago

Sure, but why mark the ones as "Do not use"? It's very unusual. Old releases are just old releases, I never saw anyone go through all previous releases and re-naming them like this. The latest "do not use" release still works fine, for example.

A continuous release that is replaced often is not practical for users that need e.g. reproducible builds or only want to use a verified release, for example like here. We made a fork and re-released to mitigate this, which was a bit of needless churn.

Not a huge deal, I just thought I'd let you know that this all caused some needless confusion and effort to us.

probonopd commented 3 days ago

The old versions are there for historical reasons. They may contain issues that will not be addressed there, but may already have been addressed in the continuous build. The note is there so that no one assumes that the old versions are still supported. If you understand this and still want to use an old version, you are of course free to do so.