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[R-pkg-devel] Update timing of machines on CRAN?

8 messages · SHIMA Tatsuya, Tomas Kalibera, Josiah Parry +3 more

Original
SHIMA Tatsuya
# 
Hi,

I maintain the prqlr package that uses rustc for compiling, so I 
regularly check the version of Rust on CRAN.
And I have noticed that the Rust version of Fedora has been stagnant for 
the past few months and was wondering why, but upon investigation I 
realized that this is because Fedora on CRAN is currently Fedora 36 (out 
of support in May).
<https://cran.r-project.org/web/checks/check_flavors.html>

It was quite a surprise to me that out of support Fedora is being used, 
but what is the normal cycle for machines on CRAN to be updated? And do 
we have any way of knowing that schedule?

Best,
Tatsuya
Uwe Ligges
#
On 01.12.2023 13:28, SHIMA Tatsuya wrote:
It depends on the maintainer who cares about these machine, the 
institution where it is hosted, the availability of technical staff, and 
the technical pressure.

I could not even say when the machines I maintain will be updated.
On one version of the retired winbuilder severs we kept the same OS 
version for almost 10 years.

Best,
Uwe Ligges
3 days later
SHIMA Tatsuya
# 
Thanks for your answer.

Unlike Windows Server, which has a long support period, Fedora's support 
period is usually about one year, so it is surprising that the old 
Fedora continues to be used.
And, unlike Windows, Linux uses the distribution standard packages for 
builds, which causes problems like the current Fedora machine that 
continues to use the old Rust.

Hope to see an update soon. Thanks to the staff for maintaining the 
infrastructure.

Best,
Tatsuya
On 2023/12/01 23:43, Uwe Ligges wrote:
Tomas Kalibera
#
On 12/4/23 15:44, SHIMA Tatsuya wrote:
The configuration currently at different CRAN machines is just a sample 
of what your users might have, just an example of a setting packages 
should be able to deal with. Some users might also still have FC36, some 
might have another Linux distribution (possibly still supported), which 
has older software than that.

I wouldn't recommend spending time tracking which version of which 
software CRAN systems currently happen to have, but rather making sure 
packages can deal with different versions (possibly with some in a 
restricted way, possibly making some hard requirements when necessary).

Best
Tomas
Josiah Parry
# 
Unfortunately, it is often important for us to pay attention to what
machines our code is being tested on.

I think the point is more or less that we often find ourselves trying to
make super small adjustments for machines and builds that are used by a
number of users in the single digits. The vast majority of R programmers
are not on these arcane machines. We should strive to support the vast
majority of users who use *fairly* standard distributions such as Mac,
Windows, Ubuntu, Debian, and maybe even Centos. Getting a note for a
release which has reach EOL can be confusing and tough to know how to
handle.

On Mon, Dec 4, 2023 at 10:17?AM Tomas Kalibera <tomas.kalibera at gmail.com>
wrote:

  
  


  


      

    

    

      
      

        


  

        

      @@drew m@iii@g oii robbi@s@@me
    

    

      
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I do think that its a reasonable ask that the test machines be running operating systems within their vendor support periods.

-Andrew Robbins

        

      
      
    

  
  


  


      

    

    

      
      

        


  

        

      Uwe Ligges
    

    

      
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Thanks for your offer to providing us with capable multicore servers and 
support staff for continuing support of recent Fedora systems.

Best,
Uwe Ligges

        
On 04.12.2023 18:09, andrew--- via R-package-devel wrote:

            

      
      
      
    

        

      
      
    

  
  


  


      

    

    

      
      

        


  

        

      Andrew Robbins
    

    

      
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I can't help with providing servers, but if the primary issue with 
builder software maintenance is manpower I would be more than willing to 
contribute and I imagine others would be as well. Perhaps logistically 
challenging, but more than doable.

-Andrew

        
On 12/4/2023 5:11 PM, Uwe Ligges wrote: