upcoming removal of components from macOS Server: opportunity?

[Jan Stary]

On Apr 16 19:39:11, rlhamil at smart.net wrote:
> "In fall 2018, Apple will stop bundling open source services such as Calendar Server, Contacts Server, the Mail Server, DNS, DHCP, VPN Server, and Websites with macOS Server. Customers can get these same services directly from open-source providers. This way, macOS Server customers can install the most secure and up-to-date services as soon as they’re available."  https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208312 <https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208312>
> 
> For which of these (and others listed on the link) is there already a port,
> esp. for the recommended (or most nearly identical) replacement?

We have unbound and nsd in the ports.

> Should there maybe also be a mention on a FAQ or wiki page of the
> collective availability of easily installable alternatives via MacPorts?

I don't think this deserves another extra wiki page.
MP provides software that does not come with MacOS itself.
This situation is nothing new in that regard.

> Anything else that might be an opportunity
> to mitigate this annoyance that I haven't mentioned?

<rant>
Apple has been replacing fundamental parts of the OS with opensource
for some time; a lot of the utils come from FreeBSD, the firewall is
OpenBSD's pf, the SSL implementation is OpenBSD's LibreSSL, etc.
That's not a bad thing: just use the good code, as opposed to
reimplementing your own poorly. But e.g. groff (not really server related)
that comes with the latest MacOS is groff 1.19.2, from 2004. That's ancient.
And now they are saying they cannot even be bothered to do that anymore
(after all, Apple is just a multibilion company).
Dear user, install the actual software yourself.

But it's a good thing if Apple starts admitting it cannot compete with
open source when it comes to actually providing fundamental software
like a firewall or a dns server or a dhcp server and such.

I wonder how the list was decided.
"DNS on a UNIX server? SMTPd? Nah ..."
</rant>

> https://developer.apple.com/support/macos-server/macOS-Server-Service-Migration-Guide.pdf

This looks like a last note from a frustrated admin
leaving a company tomorrow for greener pastures.