Can we state a fact of this project's death?

[dmtrKovalenko]

There are no releases for more than 2 years and despite the new commits, the real issues are not getting fixed. What is going to be next? What should the users of esy do? Migrate to the pure dune + opam? Rewrite the code in Rust?

Would be very helpful if maintainers especially @ManasJayanth will give an update related to this project and give any advice for maintainers of the existing projects that leverages esy's infrastructure.

I am the maintainer of likely largest esy based project on github and it is already an incredible pain to use it.

[ManasJayanth]

the real issues are not getting fixed

For my convenience, can you list them?

Would be very helpful if maintainers especially @ManasJayanth will give an update related to this project and give any advice for maintainers of the existing projects that leverages esy's infrastructure.

I recently revived the CI and added support for long paths on Windows. Was considering making a release soon. Not promising any timelines for now.

I am the maintainer of likely largest esy based project on github and it is already an incredible pain to use it.

Is there an issue or a post I can read?

[dmtrKovalenko]

The list of pain points I have in https://github.com/dmtrKovalenko/odiff:

• OCaml 5
• Native support for Apple silicon
• Most of the packages (c level) just don't work on Apple silicon
• A cross-compilation that already works in pure dune
• Generated releases have issues installing for different package managers Could not create _export folder: EEXIST: file already exists dmtrKovalenko/odiff#68

[ManasJayanth]

Native support for Apple silicon

I use Apple Silicon a lot with esy. What are you looking for when you say "Native Support" ?

Most of the packages (c level) just don't work on Apple silicon

Most? Again, can you please specify which ones dont work? I have been using esy at work to compile large codebases on M1 too.

[giltho]

Not a big fan of the initial tone of this discussion. Open source is a service gracefully offered by a stranger on the internet, and Manas has been basically the only maintainer of esy for the last few years, a role that he accepted although he did not create the software. He mentioned that his daily work now gives him less time for esy, and that is unfortunately what it is, I won't complain and am grateful for the time he spent and keeps spending when he can.
That being said, I would be happy with a healthy conversation about the future of esy and potential help for leadership. My own work is also too much at the moment for me to step up. Would you offer your help @dmtrKovalenko ?
Otherwise, @ManasJayanth how would you feel about opening a discussion on the ocaml and/or reason discourse?
Cheers!

[dmtrKovalenko]

I am sorry if the original tone looked like passive-aggressive. Actually, esy solved a giant portion of problems that I had in the linked project above and still, it is solving the whole process of npm binary release for me.

(and this is actually the only reason I still don't migrate).

I was just seeking for a feedback form maintainer — are you still interested in this project / do you plan. to invest more time in it? If not lets just declare it verbally.

I do not request any additional support or my issues resolution

[ManasJayanth]

@giltho Thank you for the kind words about my work. I love this project and keep trying to find ways to work on it.

@dmtrKovalenko TBH, even I found it a bit odd the way you phrased your question. But hey, it's hard to communicate over written text like this and everyone deserves the benefit of the doubt.

What would help me:

1. Some more details. Specifically this one: Can we state a fact of this project's death?  #1495 (comment)
2. Maintenance of C packages in the eco system. I worked on a tool to make this easier: https://github.com/ManasJayanth/esy-package It's not perfect, but helps me develop/maintain C packages
3. Website and docs.

I'll post more things. Of course there's stuff I could improve on my end too. I should definitely communicate more. I struggle with this.

[yawaramin]

Hi @dmtrKovalenko, there are no guarantees in unpaid software. Asking for set-in-stone promises of an unpaid open source maintainer doesn't make sense. They don't owe you any answers in the first place. If you are able to help out with the maintenance, please do so. If you are looking for a guarantee, you can contract with someone to provide software maintenance support :-)

[giltho]

@ManasJayanth thank you very much for your continued work! I think this issue can be closed now 😁