Which libsixel repository should be used? (Mixed info and no clarity in README.)

[eabase]

I'm trying to resolve some issues when using native Windows Powershell and MSYS/MINGW64 environment.

However, it is not clear which repository should be used for further developments. Comment from owner and users seem mixed. I feel that maybe this one, as the other has been archived, but it seem that most recent windows patches have only been pushed to the "other" one. (Did I miss something?)

• https://github.com/saitoha/libsixel/ - THIS
• https://github.com/libsixel/libsixel/ - OTHER

Which repo should we be using?

Ref. #185

[saitoha]

@eabase The discrepancy between these two repositories is due to my five-year absence.
I apologize for any confusion this may have caused package maintainers and others.

I initially considered requesting commit access to libsixel/libsixel.

However, I've been hesitant to do so for the following reasons:

• I'm no longer keeping up with changes in the build system due to my lack of knowledge. (We're seriously considering supporting meson, but this change seems to me to slightly reduce portability, and I haven't fully grasped the pros and cons.)

• I want to carefully examine each patch myself and incorporate it as I understand it.

I'm currently cherry-picking from libsixel/libsixel as appropriate to bridge the gap between the two repositories.

If there are any specific changes from libsixel/libsixel that you would like me to incorporate, please let me know.

I don't have a specific answer as to which repository you should use.
Basically, I think it makes sense to use the most active fork at the time.

[j4james]

I don't have a specific answer as to which repository you should use.

Now that you're back and maintaining this again, I'd say people should definitely be using this repository. The libsixel/libsixel fork has been archived, and the previous maintainers have made it very clear that they aren't interested in keeping it going. You can't open new issues there. You can't open PRs there. It's unquestionably dead at this point.

[eabase]

Yep, I definitely agree, and if others are also interested we could patch this up fairly quickly. I'm completely new to this project, so I don't have much more useful input, apart the above. I guess the aim here is to get one binary *.exe to work in all 3 environments.

[t-bltg]

@eabase The discrepancy between these two repositories is due to my five-year absence.
I apologize for any confusion this may have caused package maintainers and others.

In order for this not to occur again (I mean it can happen to us all, but we should think ahead), @saitoha would it be possible to consider granting write / maintainer access to a few trusted contributors / developers which could take over in case of a prolonged absence ?

[j4james]

@t-bltg The problem isn't so much that nobody else had access to the repo - a fork of the project would work just as well (as occurred last time). The real problem is that nobody was willing to maintain the project long term. Before the libsixel/libsixel fork was archived they were practically begging for someone to take over, but nobody wanted to take on the job.

[eabase]

I totally understand, as I've been trying to maintain several small projects myself, and had to abandon them because lack of time. And it's a very time consuming task, just for the bare minimum, of answering questions and occasionally merge PR's that you obviously also need to review, especially in today's AI driven PR's, often sending out rubbish.

Maybe just keep a huge warning on top of the README:

Warning

This repository is in urgent need of additional help and a dedicated maintainer. As of today, this is maintained here solely on the available time and goodwill of the owner. Until more help can be found, do not expect quick responses to questions, issues, or merge PR requests. If you need something fixed urgently consider helping out maintaining this repository. Make a fork and clearly document all your changes in small manageable pieces, for easy review, and ask for a PR merge request. Make sure to enable issues on your own fork, for easy review. The old repository libsixel/libsixel have been archived on 2025-02-12 and should not be used.

The markdown code:

> [!WARNING]
> **This repository is in urgent need of additional help and a dedicated maintainer**. As of today, this is maintained here solely on the available time and goodwill of the owner. Until more help can be found, do not expect quick responses to questions, issues, or merge PR requests. If you need something fixed urgently consider helping out maintaining this repository. Make a fork and clearly document all your changes in small manageable pieces, for easy review, and ask for a PR merge request. Make sure to enable issues on your own fork, for easy review. The old repository [libsixel/libsixel](https://github.com/libsixel/libsixel/) have been *archived* on `2025-02-12` and **should not be used**.

[eabase]

@saitoha

Would you accept a PR, if I reorganize all the Licenses and the README to a more readable state?

• Put all license files under ./licenses
• Split the README into README + GALLERY (where GALLERY contains 90% of the pictures now bloating it.)
• Improve the build instructions and try to explain the huge number of build scripts
• Anything else? I'm open for suggestions.