Re: [PATCH 2/3] ci: update Perforce version to r23.2

From: Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
Date: Jul 24, 2024, 08:39 UTC
Message-ID: <da9c4d1e-0fce-3bf3-c35b-32704a8a2129@gmx.de>
In-Reply-To: <ee5d836b779087890acdad061ef6995642942479.1721740612.git.ps@pks.im>

Hi Patrick,

On Tue, 23 Jul 2024, Patrick Steinhardt wrote:

Show 5 quoted lines

> Update our Perforce version from r21.2 to r23.2. Note that the updated
> version is not the newest version. Instead, it is the last version where
> the way that Perforce is being distributed remains the same as in r21.2.
> Newer releases stopped distributing p4 and p4d executablesas well as the
> macOS archives directly and would thus require more work.

An alternative would be to simply stop installing `p4` in CI. I would actually be in favor of that, for multiple reasons:

- The pace of reviews and integration of `git-p4` patches has slowed down
  over the couple of years. For example,
  https://lore.kernel.org/git/20210510183638.156a6b1d@ado-tr/ has not seen
  any traction in over three years (most likely because we no longer have
  any active contributor with a vested interest in `git-p4`), and
  https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/pull/1028 and
  https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/pull/1070 have not even been
  submitted to the Git mailing list (most likely because of the hurdles to
  contribute).

- Over the years, it has been made harder and harder to install Perforce
  in CI. I spent a good deal of time trying to keep the Homebrew taps up
  to date (which was hard because Perforce kept replacing the archive
  behind that URL with newer versions, which always broke Homebrew's SHA
  check until it was adjusted accordingly).

- The `git-p4` tests use quite a bit of time and electricity in all those
  CI builds. Therefore, it seems desirable to me to stop running these
  tests as part of the CI builds.

Ciao, Johannes