Archive CDAT feedstocks

[xylar]

Upstream maintenance ceased at the end of 2023, and conda-forge maintenance is becoming increasingly difficult as a result.

See:
conda-forge/cdat_info-feedstock#28
conda-forge/cdms2-feedstock#98
conda-forge/cdp-feedstock#11
conda-forge/cdtime-feedstock#65
conda-forge/cdutil-feedstock#24
conda-forge/distarray-feedstock#8
conda-forge/ezget-feedstock#4
conda-forge/genutil-feedstock#29
conda-forge/libcdms-feedstock#60
conda-forge/libcf-feedstock#56
conda-forge/libdrs-feedstock#46
conda-forge/libdrs_f-feedstock#30

Guidelines for marking packages as broken:

• We prefer to patch the repo data (see here)
  instead of marking packages as broken. This alternative workflow makes environments more reproducible.
• Packages with requirements/metadata that are too strict but otherwise work are
  not technically broken and should not be marked as such.
• Packages with missing metadata can be marked as broken on a temporary basis
  but should be patched in the repo data and be marked unbroken later.
• In some cases where the number of users of a package is small or it is used by
  the maintainers only, we can allow packages to be marked broken more liberally.
• We (conda-forge/core) try to make a decision on these requests within 24 hours.

What will happen when a package is marked broken?

• Our bots will add the broken label to the package. The main label will remain on the package and this is normal.
• Our bots will rebuild our repodata patches to remove this package from the repodata.
• In a few hours after the anaconda.org CDN picks up the new patches, you will no longer be able to install the package from the main channel.

Checklist:

• I want to archive a feedstock:
  • Pinged the team for that feedstock for their input.
  • Make sure you have opened an issue on the feedstock explaining why it was archived.
  • Linked that issue in this PR description.
  • Added links to any other relevant issues/PRs in the PR description.

ping:

• @conda-forge/cdat_info
• @conda-forge/cdms2
• @conda-forge/cdp
• @conda-forge/cdtime
• @conda-forge/cdutil
• @conda-forge/distarray
• @conda-forge/ezget
• @conda-forge/genutil
• @conda-forge/libcdms
• @conda-forge/libcf
• @conda-forge/libdrs
• @conda-forge/libdrs_f

[xylar]

Thanks you @ocefpaf, I really appreciate it.

[ocefpaf]

It is a bit early for a spring cleaning, but I'm all in.

[h-vetinari]

Thanks for the PR, though 4h are impossibly short if you're asking the feedstock maintainers for inputs (i.e. all those "can X be archived?" issues you opened).

As I said in conda-forge/libcdms-feedstock#59, it would have been better to have a metaissue on this somewhere and give people a few days to give inputs.

To respond to your last message there:

Please be mindful about the number of notifications to cf/core you generate [...]

Okay, I will be mindful. Perhaps the instructions for maintainer should be updated accordingly.

This is just about valuing other people's time. It's not rocket science that pings on multiple feedstocks for the exact same topic to ~30 people will bind more time (unnecessarily) than a single focused ping.

I don't want to discourage people from reaching out to core, so I don't want to put language in the docs that raise the bar too high (though if you have a concrete suggestion for wording this better, please open a PR). But it should still be treated as something to be done with care.

[xylar]

@h-vetinari,

I really apologize. You are right on all counts here. Yesterday was not one of my better days as a maintainer on conda-forge.

[zklaus]

At the risk of adding one more avoidable notification: While I agree with h-vetinari's comments, I still count the reduced maintenance burden as a win and think this lapse certainly pales in light of all your amazing contributions to conda-forge over the years, @xylar! ❤️

Hope you all have a nice end-of-year break!

[h-vetinari]

Just to make sure (because nuance doesn't transmit well and comments can be interpreted in multiple ways): there's no need to apologise, no drama, and no lapses worth mentioning. You've been doing great work in conda-forge, and in no way did I want to give the impression that that's not valued.

The only thing I wanted to ask - hopefully in a constructive way - is to be aware of how many notifications someone you're pinging might be getting, and to spend a few brain cycles on optimizing the communication at hand also for the recipient(s). 😊

[xylar]

@zklaus, @h-vetinari, I appreciate what both of you are saying.

@h-vetinari, I would also ask you to think about your communication. Your tone yesterday felt pretty devastating to me and it took awhile for me to be able to hear the very valid criticism you were providing because of it. I'm sure that has at least as much to do with me an where I'm at right now. But I would ask you to keep it a bit more civil even when you feel frustrated.

[h-vetinari]

I would also ask you to think about your communication. Your tone yesterday felt pretty devastating to me and it took awhile for me to be able to hear the very valid criticism you were providing because of it. I'm sure that has at least as much to do with me an where I'm at right now. But I would ask you to keep it a bit more civil even when you feel frustrated.

I'm sorry to hear that, that was clearly not my intention, apologies. Can you point out which part was devastating or not civil? I genuinely don't know what you're referring to¹, which makes it hard to improve anything on that. Happy to move this to private messages on Zulip if you prefer.

Footnotes

1. I count "please be mindful about [...]", "This is just about valuing other people's time.", "It's not rocket science that [obvious thing]", "it should still be treated as something to be done with care." Granted, I didn't particularly sugarcoat it, but I don't understand what part could be interpreted as uncivil much less devastating. ↩