Cabal meeting (01/02/2024)

# Cabal meeting (01/02/2024) Previous meeting notes at: https://hackmd.io/vjZgVTpmQHyh6JO2g-I1dg Our repo: https://github.com/haskell/cabal ## Current affairs  * Mikolaj: the promised 3.10 Branch Maintainer job description. The main goal is to help the users (e.g., Linux distro maintainers) that will compile cabal 3.10 from source many years after the last 3.10 release. Your job is to take ownership of the 3.10 branch in the repo and do your best to keep it in good shape until it's officially retired, which includes: * note, highlight, participate in, initiate discussions related to the 3.10.* releases and encourage PRs (e.g., for bound bumps) whenever the users seem to need them * alert all maintainers if impossible happens and a new release in the 3.10 series may potentially make sense (but don't worry, releasing 3.10 is not a part of this job at all) * keep CI on 3.10 branch operational, e.g., by backporting CI fixes, for as long as feasible * merge or bring up for discussion outside PRs to the 3.10 branch * revise 3.10.* bounds on Hackage according to the cabal revision policy in response to PRs * keep the bounds on Hackage and on the branch in sync (say, inspect quarterly) For branch 3.12 that job would be extended to general backporting (not only CI), in a more and more selective manner as the branch gets older. That would also make rare bugfix 3.12 releases interspersed with 3.14 releases realistic, as opposed to 3.10. Whether cutting the late releases would be among the 3.12 branch maintainership responsibilities is negotiable. TODO: after this is discussed and agreed, post this on the wiki * Hecate adds that we can try to make 3.12 an LTS version and Brandon remarks that Linux distro managers are going to ultimately decide which version they stay on longer, so perhaps this will be negotiated from both ends eventually, users voting with PRs. - @juhp opened a bunch of backport PRs against 3.8, most of which fail. Should we politely inform them that this is a lost cause? - Mikolaj: I think I did, but no harm chatting him up again and maybe agreeing to close the PRs? - Artem: [#9666](https://github.com/haskell/cabal/pull/9666) Auto-approving Dependabot patches -- looks dubious b/c we have history of refusing those patches. - Mikolaj requested changes to solicit more opinions on the PR. - Artem: [#9540](https://github.com/haskell/cabal/pull/9540) "Use a local secure repositories in the test-suite" -- Julian created a file-path related package that could solve the issue there. Prehistory: this patch found that local no-index repository are defunct on Windows (under some conditions? not sure) due to file-path related issues. - Javier will ask Andrea, the original author of the PR, if he'd be interested to try Julian's package. * Mikolaj: Should CI run cabal-install tests with many Cabal The Library versions? how many? https://github.com/haskell/cabal/issues/9681 * Mikolaj: 3.10.3 news? any help needed? or would somebody like to pair with Hecate perhaps? ## Review needed  * Rodrigo: [#9673](https://github.com/haskell/cabal/pull/9673), which fixes [#9684](https://github.com/haskell/cabal/issues/9684) and [#5349](https://github.com/haskell/cabal/issues/5349) * Matthew Pickering has [#9683](https://github.com/haskell/cabal/pull/9683) in the review queue ## Food for thought  - Static pre-releases are about to land -- spread the word among your Nix- or other unusually curious friends! [#9649](https://github.com/haskell/cabal/pull/9649) - Rodrigo: I investigated [#2997](https://github.com/haskell/cabal/issues/2997) and [#6259](https://github.com/haskell/cabal/issues/6259), would be good to discuss. - https://github.com/alt-romes/cabal/commit/f80889d58429fa131636abd9ab5223cc20c01e1c - Rodrigo: Started working on [#8909](https://github.com/haskell/cabal/issues/8909) and [#7236](https://github.com/haskell/cabal/issues/7236)