I just reviewed the current situation.
duc-in-Debian (1.4.6) uses tokyocabinet as the default DB format and
does not have support for Tkrzw. Upstream are adding Tkrzw and moving to
using it as the default. So at some point in duc's future we will need
to handle a database migration, and minimise inconvenience for existing
users.
There has been no visible activity upstream on this for about 6 months.
Last I looked the 1.5* RC branches required quite a lot more work before
they would be suitable for release. It's hard to estimate when, or
indeed if, this work will land.
I'd estimate that Forky will ship mid-2027, so freezes will start in Q1
or Q2 2027. I'm not confident that we will have a duc with Tkrzw before
freezes start.
We *could* migrate duc-in-Debian to some other DB in time for Forky, but
then we would likely be subjecting duc users to two migrations, once
Tkrzw lands (or: significantly deviating from upstream on default DB).
I'd like to avoid that. I also don't know how well-tested the other
backends are. I'd note that I've not had any reports of problems with
tokyocabinet from duc users, nor have I hit any myself.
It doesn't look to me that tokyocabinet is going to be dropped from
Forky, so I think it's best we leave duc using tokyocabinet for Forky
and look to move for Forky+1 (that would be my suggested target for
removing tokyocabinet from Debian, too)
--
👱🏻 Jonathan Dowland
✎ [email protected]
🔗 jmtd.net
