On Wed, 31 Aug 2022 at 17:08, Stephen Smoogen <ssmoogen@redhat.com> wrote:

When EPEL-8 was launched, it came with some support for modules with the hope that a module ecosystem could be built from Fedora packages using RHEL modules as an underlying tool. This has never happened and we have ended up with a muddle of modular packages which will 'build' but may not install or even run on an EL-8 system. Attempts to fix this and work within how EPEL is normally built have been tried for several years by different people but have not worked.

At this point it is time to say this experiment with modules in EPEL has not worked and focus resources on what does work. I would like to propose that modular support is removed from EPEL by January 2023. 

Steps:
1. Approval of this proposal by the EPEL Steering committee and any other ones required.
2. Announcement of end of life to various lists.
3. Archiving of the modules on XYZ date to /pub/archive/epel/8.YYYY-MM/Modular and pointing mirrormanager to that for that
4. Make changes in bodhi to turn off reporting about modules for EL8.
5. Make changes in MBS configs to turn off building modules for EL8.
6. Make changes in PDC for EL8 modules
7. Make changes in compose scripts and tools to no longer cover EPEL-8 modules
8. Remove epel-8 modules from /pub/epel/8
9. Announce closure of this proposal and any lessons learned.


Additional notes:
This is not meant in any form as a negative statement about modules. Modules can be made to work but not with the current build system Fedora and thus EPEL uses. The problem is that trying to get it to work with the existing system is too high maintenance for the resources available. Different tooling and workflow patterns would be needed which require dedicated effort and resources which aren't available.
 
--
Stephen Smoogen, Red Hat Automotive
Let us be kind to one another, for most of us are fighting a hard battle. -- Ian MacClaren