[Haskell-cafe] Hackage feature request: E-mail author when a package breaks

[Yitzchak Gale]

I wrote:
>> This would be nice. However, there would have to be
>> a way for it to be turned on and off by the author.
>> (Spam is not nice.)

Ketil Malde wrote:
> This is where it stranded the last time, IIRC.  That sentiment makes me
> a bit uneasy; so you are the official maintainer of a package on
> Hackage, but you do not want to hear about it when it fails to compile?

You are absolutely right about this.

In fact, besides build failures, it probably would be a
good idea for each maintainer to get, say, one automated
email per month with a summary of all the packages
that person is officially maintaining, even when there
are no build failures.

So I'm changing my vote to +1.

But let's think about why the instinctive reaction
is to be hesitant about this.

First of all, an automated system like a build bot
can go wrong. What guarantee is there that I
won't be flooded with emails when that happens,
if I can't shut it off myself?

Second, let's say someone decides they don't
want to be maintainer anymore. Are they married for life?
There is currently no way to remove a package.
I guess they would have to upload a new version
with no maintainer.

I am just a little worried that if uploading to Hackage
requires agreeing to unlimited uncontrollable
spamming by a bot, it may cause some good
packages not to be uploaded by people who are
hesitant to agree to that.

Thanks,
Yitz