Unpin uwsm now that 0.23.2 is available in AUR

[OmarSkalli]

The new version of uwsm (0.23.2-1) is now available: https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/any/uwsm/

Removing the code that was pinning an older version. Also tested locally updating to the latest version and rebooting Omarchy without any issue.

~/workspace/omarchy[unpin-uwsm-version] $ uwsm --version
uwsm 0.23.2

[OmarSkalli]

@curtisspendlove brought up a good point that not all mirrors are up to date yet. I'm not sure how long it takes for mirrors propagation making it safe to land this.

[dhh]

Thanks for working on this, but I'm kinda thinking whether we should have a small set of critical packages, like uwsm, where we don't just float to the latest version? But that we basically pin those versions always, and only upgrade them manually through new Omachy releases? Could be that this is an overreaction, but I sorta think not. There aren't that many critical-for-boot packages like this.

[OmarSkalli]

If I'm thinking out loud between trade-offs:

1) Always default to latest packages: The risk here is pretty easy to image, as we've just experienced it. It can make the Omarchy unbootable for both people who updated, or fresh installs. That alone makes me think pinning is worth seriously considering. I don't think people will trust Omarchy if this happens again in the future, especially with many using it as their daily driver for school/work.

2) Pin specific version: The risks comes from a potential version mismatch, where a library is updated that depends on the newest version of a core library. My guess is most libraries wouldn't deploy a new version without some limited support for the previous one, giving time for an omarchy update to catch-up. Also, even if there are issues, as long as users are able to login and have access to a terminal/browser, it's much much easier to fix.

In the case of option #2, are you thinking of also included those pinned packages in pacman.conf's IgnorePkg entry? that way users also don't run the risk of breaking change when updating things locally?

[dhh]

Yes, that's exactly what I'm thinking. That we make the setup more resilient with IgnorePkg. And then we maintain a pin list somewhere that populates/generates that. The one potential risk is that I believe there's no guarantee for how long Arch will keep old versions around. I don't know what's actually true in practice there?

[jwkicklighter]

I don't know if this is the standard, but if you click "View Changes" on the uwsm package page, you can see that the oldest available version was published 6 months ago.

[inffy]

"Pinning" packages can cause more issues with Arch. This has happened multiple times for example on Manjaro where they tend to keep version back for few weeks. Once a library / dependency of a pinned package gets updated it can cause breakage for the system or the app in question.

I think pinning for the installer might be totally fine, so the installation atleast goes through without issues, so users can first boot cleanly. After that it can be a real burden to keep those apps updated correctly without causing issues.

Don't know what could be the proper / right solution on this. I get the want for a more stable or resilient system.

[c4software]

+1 @inffy Yes, pinning with Arch often creates more issues than it resolves.

Maybe create a dedicated repository (instead of using Chautic-Aur) to distribute all specific Omarchy dependencies (and sub-dependencies)? Like describe in #767

[dhh]

Unpinned for now. We can explore something different going forward. Thanks!