Re: Fwd: [gentoo-dev] Please actively drop support for Qt5 wherever possible

[Eli Schwartz <eschwartz@gentoo.org>]

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On 1/2/25 1:36 AM, Andrey Grozin wrote:
> Here are some packages installed on my computer and (to various degrees)
> important for me which depend on Qt5
> 
> 1. x11-wm/lumina
> An excellent desktop environment. I use it for many years.
> I contacted the upstream about the possibility to port it to Qt6. They
> said that before that they have to port it from qmake to cmake (work
> underway), then they will consider the possibility of the Qt6 port.
> 
> 2. media-sound/qmmp
> An excellent misic player. The site says there is qmmp2 based on Qt6,
> but I don't see in in Gentoo.


Indeed, that is why if you visit https://packages.gentoo.org and search
for this package, there is a big infobox:

" Version 2.2.2 is available upstream. Please consider updating!"

So... do that? I bet the sound@ project would love your help here.


> 3. media-video/vlc
> An excellent video played. Its GUI is Qt5 based.


Supports Qt 6 in upstream git, not yet enabled in live ebuild. I bet the
media-video@ project would love your help here.


> 4. app-text/master-pdf-editor
> The only tool for editing pdf files. I have to use it every time I check
> and correct proofs of my papers, i.e., rather often. There is no
> replacement.


Proprietary software that ships with a bundled Qt5. There is a strong
rationale for debundling if possible, but in the event that Qt5 is
dropped from ::gentoo you can always respond to that action by switching
to the bundled Qt.

You are not beholden to the qt@ team's support policy here.


> 5. sci-visualization/gle
> A very useful tool, its gui is Qt5 based. I use it practically every
> day, it is essential for my main work. But I use the command-line tool;
> personally for me, GUI is not important.


Porting is rumored to be not hard. Try poking upstream about it:
https://github.com/vlabella/GLE/issues/13


> 6. app-text/doxygen
> GUI is Qt5 based. Personally I don't use the GUI.


Supports Qt 6 since 2022, not enabled in the ebuild. I trust that you
will agree with my analysis if I say that packages such as doxygen are
***the*** reason why Andreas is sending out email warnings asking for
people to migrate immediately.


> 7. sci-geosciences/qmapshack
> The best tool to support large collections of gpx tracks. There is a
> partially working Qt6 port: translations and the help system are broken
> in it. Personally I can live without translations and the help system.
> But stabilizing this version is out of question.
> 
> So, removing Qt5 will break computers of many users, including my
> computer. In the course of many years of existence of Qt5 a large number
> of useful programs have been created; not all of them have been ported
> to Qt6. Are we going to throw away all this wealth?


Obviously nobody is proposing to throw away this wealth. For example,
the qt@ team will continue to maintain Qt 6, but you can take over
maintenance of Qt 5 for the sake of existing useful programs, and given
that the Qt 5 packages will then have a maintainer, there is no reason
to delete them.

But assuming neither you nor anyone else concerned about Qt5 volunteers
to personally maintain it, I don't comprehend what your objection is.

Andreas has explicitly, loudly, expressed an unwillingness to continue
devoting time and energy on Qt 5. Correspondingly, he has:

- issued a warning to that effect

- advised doing whatever you can to see packages start using Qt 6

- pointed out several potential reasons that may make Qt 5 fail to
  compile over the next year or so


What you do with that information is entirely up to you, but objecting
that Andreas is not permitted to determine the best use of his time is
not a valid option. Andreas will not maintain Qt 5 due to personal
choice, and the Treecleaner project will remove packages that are unable
to be compiled and installed if nobody fixes them.

Do not blame Andreas for the actions of the Treecleaner project.


This is all especially weird since *most* of the packages you mention
are examples of why this email was necessary and the packages in
::gentoo do need fixing or updating to enable the existing support for
Qt 6. And *all but one* of the packages have upstreams that are active
and interested in supporting Qt 6 if they don't already, with the
exception of the single proprietary package that ships its own Qt for
your convenience.


I do not see why you are sending a worried reply indicating you think
the situation is hopeless. Based on your list, the situation is the very
opposite of hopeless. And your list is just a bunch of action points
that you, yourself, can work on *today* in order to make things better.

Why all the doom and gloom?


-- 
Eli Schwartz

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