Re: Feature idea: show upstream release dates on packages

[Dan Ritter <dsr@randomstring.org>]

Borden wrote: 
> On a few  projects, I've discovered how ancient some software is (like, last commit more than  15 years ago ancient). Unless I missed something, `apt-cache show` doesn't show the upstream release date.

This runs into problems quickly. Relevant issues include:

- no upstream ever existed

- the upstream no longer exists

- the upstream doesn't release; the DD had to pick a particular
  git/svn/hg... version and use that

- the official release date for the version was X, but this is
  the eleventh time a DD has patched in fixes from later
  versions

- the package is synthetic and has multiple release dates,
  possibly including other problems from above

- there are roughly 60,000 packages in Trixie. At five minutes
  per package to research the date, make a decision, add the
  header and re-upload, that's 5000 hours of new work you are asking
  volunteers to do. Two and a half years of full-time employment.

Is it a plausible idea to suggest? Yes. Is making it mandatory
for Trixie reasonable? No.


-dsr-