upcoming removal of components from macOS Server: opportunity?

[Rainer Müller]

On 2018-04-18 10:09, Jan Stary wrote:
> 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.

Similar to the migration guide from Apple linked below, there could be a
document to explain how to migrate these services to MacPorts.

Especially for internet-facing services it would be better to get more
users to install from a maintained repository with regular updates
instead of installing only once from source.

>> 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.

That is the last version of GNU roff licensed as GPL-2+ before they
changed the license to GPL-3+. This is the reason you do not get any
more recent GNU tools and why GNU make or bash are that old. Apple
avoids the GPLv3 for its patent and anti-tivoization clauses. They are
not alone with this, other companies do the same.

>> 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.

Assuming Apple tested this process, it would be a good idea to check
whether the instructions given in this document match our ports
regarding startup items and other configuration options. Any volunteers?

Rainer