[Nix-dev] Removing KDE 4 packages

[Thomas Tuegel]

Hello nix-dev!

I am pleased to announce that we are ready to begin removing some of the
legacy KDE 4 packages from Nixpkgs. This was previously discussed on
GitHub #15866 [1]. The NixOS modules which provide the services for the KDM
display manager and KDE 4 desktop environment were removed in #22677
[2]. The next step is to remove the obsolete KDE 4 modules, which I have
begun to do in #22977 [3].

In order to be able to remove as many KDE 4 libraries as possible, I
have also started to remove third-party KDE 4-based packages. So far I
have removed packages which either have no ongoing upstream development
or are unmaintained in Nixpkgs. In the latter category, a few packages
have updates available upstream, but most are also no longer under
development.

The remaining KDE 4-based packages have dependencies only on core KDE
libraries. These packages will remain until upstream stops updating
the core KDE 4 libraries around December 2017. At that time I will
remove the core KDE 4 libraries and any dependent packages. I have
already contacted the maintainers so they have time to update their
packages.

The list of packages which have been or will be removed follows this
message. If your favorite package is on the list below and you would
like to keep it beyond the NixOS 17.03 release, we must find a
"champion" to take on the responsibilities of updating and maintaining
it. No experience is necessary and volunteers are always welcome!

I will keep the pull request open until 25 Feb 2017 to allow
discussion.

Regards,
Thomas

[1]. https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/15866
[2]. https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/22677
[3]. https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/22977

---

## Removed Now

### Removed Outright
- semnotes
- psi
- partition-manager
- liblikeback
- libkvkontakte
- libalkimia
- kuickshow
- kvirc
- kmymoney
- kdesvn
- kbibtex
- choqok
- basket
- bangarang
- rekonq and kwebkitpart
- rsibreak
- kwooty
- qtcurve
- oxygen-gtk
- eventlist
- kde-wacomtablet

### Already Updated
- digikam
- kdeconnect
- kdevelop
- kdiff3
- kile
- krename
- konversation
- quassel
- skrooge
- yakuake
- bluedevil
- colord-kde
- kde-gtk-config
- ksshaskpass
- plasma-nm, libmm-qt, and libnm-qt
- polkit-kde-agent
- ktorrent and libktorrent
- kipi-plugins

## To Be Removed Dec 2017

### Update Available
- calligra (#22966)
- kmplayer (#22959)
- krusader (#22952)
- telepathy (#22954)

### Development Version Available
- k3b
- kadu (#22956)
- kgraphviewer (#22958)
- ktikz (#22961)
- massif-visualizer (#22963)
- zanshin (#22964)