Guidance for when to remove a library?

[JoshuaKGoldberg]

When a library is explicitly deprecated, it probably makes sense to remove it from the README.md (I think?). Examples I'll send a PR for soon: https://github.com/aminland/eslint-plugin-coffee, https://github.com/gund/eslint-plugin-deprecation.

But, what about for projects that haven't been actively maintained in a few years? Take https://github.com/yarax/eslint-plugin-typelint: last updated 7 years ago, one open issue not responded to in 8 years (yarax/eslint-plugin-typelint#10).

Is there a point where projects should be removed from the README.md for inactivity? Once a project is awesome, is it awesome forever? 🙂

[dustinspecker]

I agree that a library that is deprecated via a message in its README or even being archived is a good signal to be removed from this list.

I think it depends on the scenario for repositories that appear less active. If they have issues with bugs piling up, then it's probably a good indicator not to use them. But a library that hasn't been updated in years without issues could keep working perfectly, so I think that's fine to keep on the list.

[JoshuaKGoldberg]

💡 ESLint's flat config format is actually kind of useful here. A lot of projects had to make changes to support it. And also the v8 -> v9 breaking change removals of some context methods required work in more projects. Quick references:

• 📈 Tracking: Flat Config support eslint/eslint#18093
• 📈 Tracking: ESLint v9 support eslint/eslint#18391

Maybe a good metric would be projects that haven't had a release since 2 major versions of ESLint ago? Right now that would be ESLint 8 released October 2021. I think that'd work for at least a one-time cleanup now at least?

Here's all the current items that would be impacted, along with any oldest / most relevant indication I could find indicating they're "stale" (e.g. have issues with bugs piling up):

Tool	Last Release	Example Potential Staleness Indicator
https://github.com/EmmanuelDemey/eslint-plugin-angular	2021 September	EmmanuelDemey/eslint-plugin-angular#599
https://github.com/fengzilong/eslint-dashboard	2021 September	(no open issues in repository)
https://github.com/leo-buneev/eslint-plugin-sort-keys-fix	2021 August	leo-buneev/eslint-plugin-sort-keys-fix#22
https://github.com/BrainMaestro/eslint-plugin-optimize-regex	2021 July	BrainMaestro/eslint-plugin-optimize-regex#85
https://github.com/fintechstudios/eslint-plugin-chai-as-promised	2021 May	fintechstudios/eslint-plugin-chai-as-promised#25
https://github.com/shiva-hack/eslint-plugin-pii	2021 April	shiva-hack/eslint-plugin-pii#1
https://github.com/RokuRoad/eslint-plugin-roku	2021 January	RokuRoad/eslint-plugin-roku#35
https://github.com/brettz9/eslint-formatter-badger	2021 January	(no open issues in repository)
https://github.com/cvisco/eslint-plugin-requirejs	2020 December	Newest issue is 2017 August (although: all issues are triaged)
https://github.com/mathematic-inc/eslint-plugin-padding	2020 December	(no open issues in repository)
https://github.com/nkt/eslint-plugin-es5	2020 February	nkt/eslint-plugin-es5#30
https://github.com/markalfred/eslint-plugin-no-constructor-bind	2020 October	markalfred/eslint-plugin-no-constructor-bind#57
https://github.com/mysticatea/eslint-plugin	2019 November	mysticatea/eslint-plugin#28
https://github.com/pimlie/eslint-multiplexer	2019 August	(no open issues in repository)
https://github.com/johnstonbl01/eslint-no-inferred-method-name	2019 October	johnstonbl01/eslint-no-inferred-method-name#7
https://github.com/kuceb/eslint-plugin-json-format	2019 September	kuceb/eslint-plugin-json-format#39
https://github.com/tinloof/eslint-plugin-better-styled-components	2019 July	tinloof/eslint-plugin-better-styled-components#4
https://www.npmjs.com/package/eslint-plugin-const-case	2019 June	Repository is archived
https://github.com/jfmengels/eslint-rule-documentation	2019 April	jfmengels/eslint-rule-documentation#28
https://github.com/jfmengels/eslint-plugin-lodash-fp	2018 July	jfmengels/eslint-plugin-lodash-fp#85
https://github.com/selaux/eslint-plugin-filenames	2018 June	selaux/eslint-plugin-filenames#52
https://github.com/wagerfield/eslint-index	2018 June	wagerfield/eslint-index#2
https://github.com/ramda/eslint-plugin-ramda	2018 March	ramda/eslint-plugin-ramda#20
https://github.com/matijs/eslint-plugin-this	2018 March	(no open issues in repository)
https://github.com/SebastienElet/eslint-plugin-mongodb	2018 February	SebastienElet/eslint-plugin-mongodb#8
https://github.com/supermind/eslint-config-supermind	2018 February	(no open issues in repository)
https://github.com/Volox/eslint-plugin-ie11	2017 October	(no open issues in repository)
https://github.com/t-huth/eslint-plugin-chai-assert-bdd	2017 September	(no open issues in repository)
https://github.com/ilyavolodin/eslint-plugin-backbone	2017 August	ilyavolodin/eslint-plugin-backbone#63
https://github.com/supermind/superlint	2017 July	(no open issues in repository)
https://github.com/apollographql/eslint-plugin-graphql	2017 March	apollographql/eslint-plugin-graphql#318
https://www.npmjs.com/package/eslint-plugin-jest-async	2017 February	(no open issues in repository)
https://github.com/geek/node-style	2017 January	(no open issues in repository)
https://github.com/yarax/eslint-plugin-typelint	2017 January	yarax/eslint-plugin-typelint#10
https://github.com/jfmengels/eslint-plugin-fp	2017 January	jfmengels/eslint-plugin-fp#55
https://github.com/amilajack/eslint-plugin-dom	2016 December	Newest and only issue is from 2016 December
https://github.com/miherlosev/eslint-plugin-testcafe	2016 December	miherlosev/eslint-plugin-testcafe#5
https://github.com/Raynos/eslint-plugin-perf-standard	2016 March	Raynos/eslint-plugin-perf-standard#3
https://medium.com/@bjrnt/creating-an-eslint-plugin-87f1cb42767f	2016 March
https://github.com/jhusain/eslint-plugin-immutable	2016 March	jhusain/eslint-plugin-immutable#26
https://github.com/platinumazure/eslint-plugin-microtemplates	2016 March	platinumazure/eslint-plugin-microtemplates#10
https://medium.com/@dan_abramov/lint-like-it-s-2015-6987d44c5b48#.5p3yk0b03	2015 February
http://blog.cowchimp.com/writing-a-custom-eslint-rule-to-spot-undeclared-props		(404)

[ldeveber]

I think it depends on the scenario for repositories that appear less active. If they have issues with bugs piling up, then it's probably a good indicator not to use them. But a library that hasn't been updated in years without issues could keep working perfectly, so I think that's fine to keep on the list.

Does it make sense to mark the packages that aren't compatible with flat mode then? It would be helpful to know when looking at the list at least?