ftp.debian.org: Request for removal of ftape-tools
Package: ftp.debian.org
Severity: normal
ftape-tools (source)
ftape-util (binary)
I would like to request the removal of the above from testing and
unstable.
- It has not had a maintainer upload since 1999, but has had
several NMUs since then, the latest in 2003.
- The last upstream release was in 2002. Upstream no longer exists.
- It fails to build with GCC4.
- I have patched it to build with GCC4, but there do not appear to be
any users to actually confirm it still works. Popcon shows 30
total installed, 1 recent install.
As a result, I don't think it is a good idea to keep it in Debian. It
may not even work with current (2.6) kernels. Without anyone to confirm
it still works, it could cause serious problems (e.g. data corruption).
One of the GCC4 fixes involved moving the position of the __attribute__
((packed)) statements in struct definitions (they were placed after
the typedef'd name, rather than immediately after the end of the
struct. Without being able to confirm it works, I can't be certain the
tape header records etc. aren't scrambled (even though there should not
be any difference).
Regards,
Roger
-- System Information:
Debian Release: testing/unstable
APT prefers unstable
APT policy: (990, 'unstable')
Architecture: powerpc (ppc)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/bash
Kernel: Linux 2.6.12
Locale: LANG=en_GB.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_GB.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8)
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