Just learning of this when Unity randomly stopped working on latest Ubuntu 25.10 update. Latest Unity release expects XML2, and I presume Ubuntu no longer ships it.
(insert XKCD meme here)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDr4fKXmUvc #opensource #foss #unity #libxml2
Last time I wrote XML procesing in perl was years ago, so I did a quick search about the suggested approach as of now. Among the first results was a page suggesting XML-LibXML, because it "has good reference documentation and is actively maintained". I mean, I don't insist that there are good alternatives, but knowing XML-LibXML is a #libxml2 wrapper made me hurt inside a bit about the state of the world after what happened with libxml2.
@BrodieOnLinux made some nice video about the problems of funding infrastructure FOSS projects which nobody sees, mainly with the libxml2 example, but OpenPrinting is appearing twice, too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PTlYeLBKvI&t=590s
Problem of finding volunteers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PTlYeLBKvI&t=945s
Long time at Canonical, then funded by @sovtechfund and supported by @linuxfoundation
The story of #libxml2 is the one of #OpenSource struggle. So again and again, I'd call all #developers to respect Open Source maintainers by creating only a waterproof ticket, adding a (failing) test to explain it, and eventually, contribute. Most of the time the work is unpaid. You can chip in. https://hackaday.com/2025/12/23/libxml2-narrowly-avoids-becoming-unmaintained/ #Programming
📢 Libxml2 échappe de peu à l’abandon : deux nouveaux mainteneurs prennent le relais
📝 Selon Hackaday, libxml2 — une bibliothèque centrale pour le traitement **XML/XSLT** utilisée dans **GNOME**, des **navigateurs web** et de...
📖 cyberveille : https://cyberveille.ch/posts/2025-12-26-libxml2-echappe-de-peu-a-labandon-deux-nouveaux-mainteneurs-prennent-le-relais/
🌐 source : https://hackaday.com/2025/12/23/libxml2-narrowly-avoids-becoming-unmaintained/
#CVE #libxml2 #Cyberveille
RE: https://social.linux.pizza/@shanmukhateja/115759299268337435
I wish #libxml2 got the same love as #curl. It would’ve been much better then.
The #libxml2 situation is a sad one. It sucks that big tech companies refuse to fund a library that is so critical to their products.
Let it be known that I support Nick, the now-former, original maintainer of the project.
libxml2 is now officially unmaintained : r/linux
https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1pi2qcp/libxml2_is_now_officially_unmaintained/
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libxml2/-/commit/9c80a89af2fdf4f853892f84e46580f4902658ba
I ran `pactree -ru libxml2 | wc -l` and I got 822, that's a lot.
Edited: I add a unique flag for `pactree`
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libxml2/-/issues/1023# #libxml2 is #unmaintained : A #FLOSS #AbandonWare looking for #adopters ?
So, libxml2 developer fed up with the lack of commitment from Google, Red Hat and Amazon.
A library used by Chrome, Windows, macOS, iOS, Linux, and most tech stacks in the world: now abandoned.
Seems that the only way to force big corpo to care is to offer an AGPLv3 version and a commercial version.
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libxml2/-/issues/976
To me, that should be the base standard.
#Linux #FOSS #FLOSS #OSS #OpenSource #FreeOpenSource #OpenSourceSoftware #Software #libxml2 #XML
#Guix practitioners - there is upcoming large re-build-the-world update
https://codeberg.org/guix/guix/issues/2987
Please, test your channels, system configuration and packages you care about, report on failure when possible.
boost
In all seriousness, libxml2 situation is good example of this strange limbo state of all critical libraries. Companies are chasing quick money and zero spending, so they are absolutely don't want to spend even bare minimum on supporting libraries like this. Ok, possibly RedHat as always will pick up the slack, but overall, I agree with sentiment.
It is disheartening to see software industry in general being way worse shit house than it was before. It is creaking at seems #libxml2 #software
This academic search engine relies on #libxml2 in several places. After harvesting bibliographic metadata (mostly OAI XML) from thousands of publication repositories, we process it using libxml2 and #libxslt.
We are operating on a tiny budget, so all we can do is to hope that the maintainer of libxslt will be able to cope with maintaining libxml2 as well (as he just offered) – and extend our gratitude to the #FreeSoftware community on whose shoulders we are standing.
🌖 卸任 libxml2 維護者
➤ 開源專案面臨維護者交接的挑戰與社羣的聲音
✤ https://discourse.gnome.org/t/stepping-down-as-libxml2-maintainer/31398
libxml2 的長期維護者 Nick Wellnhofer 宣佈他將卸下職務，這意味著該專案短期內將處於無人維護的狀態。他承諾在 2025 年底前修復 2.15 版本中的回歸性錯誤。此消息引發社羣感謝與關切，一位新任 libxslt 維護者表示有意接手，並就如何管理輸入輸出緩衝區向 Wellnhofer 尋求指導。其他使用者也紛紛表達對 Wellnhofer 辛勤貢獻的感謝，強調 libxml2 對全球無數產品的重要性。
+ 感謝 Nick 長期以來的付出！libxml2 的確是個非常重要的基礎設施。
+ 看到有人願意接手真是太好了，希望新維護者能順利上手，libxml2 的發展不能停啊！
#軟體維護 #開源專案 #libxml2 #GNOME
🚨BREAKING NEWS🚨: Local hero bails on XML parsing! 🤯 The #libxml2 maintainer steps down, leaving the project in the capable hands of... absolutely no one. 🏃♂️💨 Meanwhile, fans express gratitude and promptly scatter to the four winds. 🌪️👏 #HeroToZero
https://discourse.gnome.org/t/stepping-down-as-libxml2-maintainer/31398 #BreakingNews #XMLParsing #HeroToZero #CommunityResponse #HackerNews #ngated
Stepping Down as Libxml2 Maintainer
https://discourse.gnome.org/t/stepping-down-as-libxml2-maintainer/31398
#HackerNews #SteppingDown #Libxml2 #Maintainer #OpenSource #Community #GNOME #Development
Looking forward to seeing Chrome devs maintain #libxml2. /s
The reality is going to be they'll either just hope someone else does it or create a whole new lib which will be so minimalistic that this will be the justification used to drop even more stuff from the #web standards.
In any case, I can't blame Nick for wanting nothing to do with it anymore, and thanks for your service.
c.f. https://discourse.gnome.org/t/stepping-down-as-libxml2-maintainer/31398
