Is it possible to bring back `libxml`?

[andreasabel]

For their tests, test-framework needs libxml.

stackage/build-constraints.yaml

Line 8441 in ea7acb4

- test-framework # tried test-framework-0.8.2.0, but its *test-suite* requires the disabled package: libxml

Locally (macOS) I can simply do a extra-deps: libxml without any build problems.

But maybe there have been problems with libxml in the past on Stackage?

I only found these two references to libxml in issues and PRs:

• Add credential-store #3157
• Takeover dbus maintainership #3160

[juhp]

Good question - I am surprised it never came up before - indeed seems it was never in Stackage yet

[juhp]

Hmm libxml-0.1.1 is failing to build for me unfortunately because of the .cabal line:

includes: libxml/xmlIO.h libxml/xmlmemory.h

[juhp]

Presumably xml is not enough I am guessing?

[ysangkok]

I exchanged emails with David Himmelstrup (Lemmih, the maintainer) on June 22nd, 2023, suggesting they add pkgconfig-depends: libxml-2.0 which fixes the build. I got the answer "That package is no longer maintained". I suppose the package could be taken over by someone.

[andreasabel]

I considered, but then I saw that it was not hard to drop the libxml dependency:

• v0.8.2.2: remove libxml dependency haskell/test-framework#78

So maybe we can let libxml RIP anyway.