Future of Exiv2

[alexvanderberkel]

The development of v0.27.4 is on track. @clanmills has volunteered to help one last time by shipping v0.27.4 before he retires. I've set up a Zoom meeting to discuss the following two questions:

1. Should Exiv2 join OIN (see Joining the Open Invention Network (OIN) #1447) .
2. The future of Exiv2 after v0.27.4

Zoom meeting details:
Topic: Future of Exiv2
Time: Feb 27, 2021 06:00 PM Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us05web.zoom.us/j/87388802811?pwd=RStyUUdRak1aNmRENnRKZ3k1Z3U3Zz09
Meeting ID: 873 8880 2811
Passcode: S0qPG1

This is the list of contributors / people who forked and/or worked on Exiv2 over the years on GitHub.
@1480c1 @1div0 @354380o726502 @5l1v3r1 @a17r @adammartak @ahuggel @alexvanderberkel @AmaniBHH
@AndreasMartin72 @andreilabato @Anmol92verma @anmolvermamm @arkiruthis @asp @astippich @Aurora-Community
@awilfox @badola @bellaperez @bentglasstube @BioDataAnalysis @bkuhls @blockspacer @boardman @BohuaCao
@Cadcorp @caomw @carlosbasecodeit @Cethric @cgilles @chan0415 @clanmills @clayne @clthomas
@codingdave @connectthefuture @criadoperez @cryptomilk @csparker247 @CTF-s @cygwin-lem
@czgnp @D4N @danielkaneider @danileo @dbeichl @Deneb99 @derselbst @devil1437

[alexvanderberkel]

@dimin @dirkmueller
@disneylucy @divakar-lakhera @dong-516 @dorisli2017 @draekko @drinckes @DroneDB @dvhart
@emmenlau @emye @enefry @exiftool @Fimagena @FreddieWitherden @frli8848 @fuzzitdev @GitTongZQ
@greenbigfrog @hassec @heckflosse @henryborchers @hexygen @hfiguiere @hitagisol @Hombre57
@ImageRights @imsodin @jaehojung @Jakuje @janisozaur @jarobbins @jeffli678 @jenshannoschwalm
@JoanneWheeler @joggelxx @JohnCoconut @johntron @joncampbell123 @joxda @jtojnar
@julian-zhuang @jwilk @kd35a @kevinbackhouse @Kicer86 @kiekerjan @kmilos @layderv

[alexvanderberkel]

@lbschenkel
@LeoHsiao1 @LeiOuYang @Leonidas-from-XIV @liuyudian @Lupupam @MADV360 @maheshmhegade @Maksim-0 @marciopocebon @marisn @matt-maguire @mbrukman @mcdamo @MerlotQ @mfg92 @Michael-Lfx @mikaelstaldal @MingSN91 @mmind @modulexcite @moon6969 @naderak @ncopa @nehaljwani @neheb @nicofooo @nkbj @nomacs @Olliebrown @olupton @Pandinosaurus @pankhurivanjani @PenitentTangent2401 @phako @pic-time @picturae @piponazo @pmatth2 @postscript-dev @qiqihuang @QL-Win @QLHua001 @RaphaelK12 @ratchetasslife @rcsanchez97 @RomainDWipsea @ryandesign @RyanMarzec @santoshmenon

[alexvanderberkel]

@sat3ll @scitao @Seabreg @shensq04 @SijieShen @SineSquared @siposcsaba89 @skal65535 @slonm @smr99 @sridharb1 @tabulon-ext @taor-163 @tbeu @tcberner @terial
@tgurr @theluciano @TonyDiana @TopazLabs @tpetazzoni @UESTC-ZKP @UIUCLibrary @ujjwalsh @vasvlad
@vcunat @vog @Vogtinator @webmeister @whatdoineed2do @wikityrey @WNiels @xy-lin @yfyuufuruu @yvoinov
@zententacles @zeta1999

[clanmills]

@boardhead: I hope you will be able to join us.

[clanmills]

Slides for the meeting.
Future of Exiv2.pdf

[alexvanderberkel]

Meeting notes of 2021-02-27

Participants:

• Robin Mills
• Volker Griels-Grabsch
• Luis Diaz
• Christoph Hasse
• Peter Kovar
• Alexander Esseling
• Thomas Beutlich

Join OIN (open invention network)?

• Joining OIN is being suspended in the short-term
• Decision to evaluate joining the KDE project
• Benefits: KDE is already part of the open invention network
• KDE project might bring new contributor and/or maintainer to the project

Exiv2 after v0.27.4?

• No new maintainer has volunteered.
• We agreed to simplify the branch structure and "modernise" the code (C++20 support)
• Current master branch v0.28 will be labeled as old-master and frozen.
• 0.27-maintenance will be frozen.
• We'll branch 0.27-maintenance to 'main' and make it the default branch.
• Luis will port Unique pointer code from old-master to main.
• Robin will release v0.28 from 'main' in the Fall.

There is no active plant for development of Exiv2 beyond 2021.
We hope to have a week-end retreat in Germany in the Fall to celebrate our achievements.