[R-pkg-devel] how to notify users of obsolete and new package

[Uwe Ligges]

On 11.02.2025 10:40, Rolf Turner wrote:
> 
> On Mon, 10 Feb 2025 21:55:07 +0000
> Bernd.Gruber <Bernd.Gruber using canberra.edu.au> wrote:
> 
>> Hi,
>>
>> I have a quick question. I have an older package (dartR) that is now
>> superseded by a series of new packages.
>>
>> Still we noticed that several users have not updated yet and moved to
>> the new package. Hence the question:
>>
>> Is it okay to submit a "shell" package under the name of the old
>> package that does nothing else than telling the user to install the
>> new package (and a link/code how to do that)?
>>
>> There would only be one function which is updating some legacy data
>> to a new format.

You can do that and then let that package be archived after a while.


>>
>> Is that accepted or is there another way to let user know (e.g. via
>> the CRAN package pages)?

Yes, we can archive a package and report on the web page of the package 
that it has been superseded.
Some example:
<https://cran.r-project.org/package=eodhd>


Note that CRAN does not like the idea of retiring a package and 
replacing it by another one. This should only be a very exceptional 
action and CRAN will decide case based.
Ideally a new version of the old package should do.

Best,
Uwe Ligges




>
>> Thanks and regards, Bernd
> 
> I am sympathetic to the points made by Kevin Coombes, who has also
> replied to you.  OTOH I am obsessive about redundancy and clutter.  So
> I dunno.
> 
> Some while back I put a package "hse" (standing for "hope springs
> eternal" 🙂️) up on CRAN.  Then later I wrote a paper about the ideas
> implemented in hse.  A referee objected to the name, so I changed the
> name to "dbd" ("discretised beta distribution").  But I left a skeleton
> of hse on CRAN.  It just consists of the .onAttach() function.  If you
> install and load hse you just get the message:
> 
>       This package, "hse" is now deprecated.   Users
>       should install and use its successor "dbd".
> 
> So far no-one has yelled at me ....  But maybe no-one ever used hse.
> 
> cheers,
> 
> Rolf Turner
>