Re: [gentoo-dev] Unmask >=net-p2p/bitcoin*-0.21.1

[Florian Schmaus]

On 25/01/2022 07.49, Joonas Niilola wrote:
> On 24.1.2022 20.37, Florian Schmaus wrote:

Hi Joonas,

>> I think it is time to unmask the currently masked Bitcoin versions. The
>> mask was added in Juli of 2021 [1], with the mask's commit message
>> indicating that unmasking is planned for November 2021.
>>
>> I doubt that the mask was ever needed in the first place, as it was
>> intended to prevent automated updates of Bitcoin in Gentoo. However,
>> Gentoo has no unattended upgrade mechanism. Instead, the user explicitly
>> triggers all updates.
>>
>> As this has already caused a little bit of friction, I'd like to get a
>> feeling of the community's view on that.
>>
>> - Flow
>>
>> 1:
>> https://gitweb.gentoo.org/repo/gentoo.git/commit/?id=d0bbc4dcc33927cbf0ca27a054c430f6866ed72e
>>
>>
>
> Publishing a news item 2-4 weeks prior wouldn't cost much for us, I feel
> like just to make sure it'd be the right thing to do.

I am skeptical that a news item would be the right thing to do

First, I doubt that the package mask was needed, as I already wrote. 
Hence unmasking the package is nothing that the users need to be 
notified about.

Secondly, we never did a news item for Bitcoin in the past, even on 
consensus changes. So I want to prevent creating a precedent that puts 
us in a position where people expect us to do one for every Bitcoin 
protocol consensus change.

Finally, the news item would state the obvious: Newer software versions 
may include changes that you, as a user, may want to review before 
upgrading.

That said, I wouldn't object if someone published one. Please let me 
know if you plan to publish one. Otherwise, I would unmask Bitcoin in 
one week since no fundamental objections have been raised so far.

- Flow