[FFmpeg-devel] [RFC] Anyone using 6.0, 4.1, 3.4 ?

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

Hi,

On Mon, 15 Apr 2024, at 01:55, Michael Niedermayer wrote:
> I see nothing using 6.0 and 4.1 on our downstreams page, so i suggest to
> move 6.0 to the archieve page after 6.0.2 and 4.1 probably without
> new releases

Good idea.

> About 3.4
> ubuntu 18.04 last updated its FFmpeg 3.4 package 15 November 2023
> sadly "apt changelog" doesnt seem to work with that package so iam not
> sure that includes our fixes or only other things
> our last 3.4 release was 2023-06-12

Just make one point release of 3.4 and drop that branch.

> but i intend to make new 3.4 and 2.8 releases too

> The branches can be droped afterwards if noone is left using these.

Even if those have people using them, you should drop them now.
They are old, and we're not sure they are complete in terms of backports and fixes.

If you maintain them, people expect completion, while they are not complete, and it does not incentize people to upgrade.

> But as shown above ubuntu is still actively doing things with these
> packages so if someone confirms that ubuntu still has interrest in
> these (or another distro) then ill try to continue to update these

In summary, IMHO:
I think you should support less versions.

Drop 2.8 and 3.4 (after a point release, if you want).
Maintain 4.2, 4.4, 5.1, 6.1 and drop all the rest (4.0, 4.1, 4,.3, 5.0).

Almost no other project in the world support that many branches.
It's better to have a few very well maintained, than all those.

-- 
Jean-Baptiste Kempf -  President
+33 672 704 734
https://jbkempf.com/