[winswitch] project management changes needed

[Antoine Martin]

Hi,

Although I am still hoping that enough sponsors will step up in the next 
few days / weeks, I am already more than half way through the task list 
below:
* 5.0 has been released and 5.0.1 will arrive shortly
* the mailing list archive has been edited and moved here:
https://xpra.org/list/
* the mailing list itself will be replaced by github's discussions:
https://github.com/orgs/Xpra-org/discussions
To continue to receive notifications about new releases, you can follow 
the organization or individual projects:
https://github.com/Xpra-org
* most xpra.org URLs now redirect to their new home on github

The only important item left is to move all the package downloads - both 
source (<1GB) and binaries (~12GB + optional 145GB for the older 
packages from the `vault`), the mailing list archive, preferably also 
preserving the http redirects and rsync download access.
We have a shortlist of options, feel free to suggest new ones:
https://github.com/orgs/Xpra-org/discussions/3949#discussioncomment-6786562

I see no reason to discontinue the IRC channel: #xpra on libera.chat
Or the discord channel:
https://discord.com/channels/934131122504343572/1085224033257259009
As those are provided by third parties.

Cheers,
Antoine



On 23/07/2023 22:13, Antoine Martin wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Xpra is being used extensively for critical deployments, worldwide, by 
> individuals as well as some of the most prestigious organizations on 
> the planet.
>
> Unfortunately, it seems that very few actually want to contribute to 
> the project and this means that the project's funding has not been 
> sustainable for a while.
> I was hoping that at least some of the more serious enquiries would 
> eventually lead somewhere, but it seems they all assumed that someone 
> else would.
>
> Unless things improve in the next few months, I intend to:
> * archive the mailing list and switch over to github discussions,
> * move all the package downloads to a third party hosting service (TBD),
> * redirect xpra.org to github,
> * finally release version 5.0 and a few minor updates after that,
> * give commit, release and key privileges to more contributors,
> * decommission the hardware currently hosting a lot of these services,
> * step down as maintainer
>
> Despite my best efforts to welcome contributions to the project and 
> make the codebase more approachable, it seems unlikely that anyone 
> will be able to take over in the short term.
> It is slightly frightening to think that users will be left with the 
> already sub-par downstream packaging for a project of this importance 
> and size.
> I do feel guilty for this messy state of affairs, so I will gladly 
> listen to any suggestions on how best to protect the future of this 
> project before I move on.
>
> No matter what happens in the next few weeks / months, I would like to 
> take this opportunity to thank all past and present sponsors, and all 
> those who have helped the project until now through contributions of 
> any kind.
> https://github.com/Xpra-org/xpra/blob/master/docs/SPONSORS.md
> https://github.com/sponsors/totaam
>
> Cheers,
> Antoine