Abandoned project

[robert-s-ubi]

Sadly, it seems like this project has been abandoned by its sole maintainer. Even more so, since the last commit actually broke things.

With not only required fixes and existing enhancement PRs, but also additional features (OCPP 2.1 support, compression support) to be done, maybe it is time to carry on in a fork?

[ev-adias]

I would say OCA should take over the project. They define the protocol, it would be nice if they provided resources for the most common language implementations. But, yeah a fork is probably going to be required

[jmluy]

@TVolden do you have any plans on continuing this or getting someone else to help maintain the project?

[TVolden]

Hi,

First of all, I'm sorry that I haven't prioritized this library for quite some time, the fact is that I went back to study for a master's degree five years ago and immediately after started a 3 year PhD fellowship. Therefore I haven't had the spare energy to properly maintain the library.

During this time I have witnessed a community that helps out and supports each other, which I am eternally grateful for. Thanks to everyone that contributes.

I have been monitoring this thread. I'm not against continuing on a fork. In fact I embrace anyone who wants to take the library in their own direction to fork it and make it their own, which some already have. I know I started this as an organization, hoping to gather like-minded members, but I have come to realize that a community of people, which doesn't necessarily share their goal, are more than capable of helping out and giving back.

So to answer your question, no I haven't considered a replacement, and I don't think I will have the spare time to maintain the library efficiently. If anyone wants to put their name in the hat, then please do.
I will still try to help out and support any way I can, but I don't think I will implement any new features or quickly review code. The library has become too distant for too long, and I don't have the same drive anymore.

If you, the community, decide to embrace a new fork, then I will happily refer to it in the readme.

[robert-s-ubi]

@TVolden first off, good to hear that you are alive and well! Your long complete absence had me a bit worried that something might have happened to you.

From my point of view, this project just needs a maintainer, not so much a contributor. You might be happy to hear that with my last PRs (#352, #353 and #354) it is possible to build an OCPP 1.6 and OCPP 2.0.1 compliant and certifiable charging station with this library!

And I'd have further contributions in the pipeline: WebSocket compression support (after helping the Java-WebSocket maintainers fix their broken implementation) and, of course, OCPP 2.1 - which seemed simple at first, but will need API extensions to support the new one-way messages that OCPP 2.1 introduces. But I can only contribute and wouldn't have the time to maintain the project as well.

It's sad that you feel no longer connected to your project, which is probably running on more devices than you'll ever know. But could you wrap up your work and merge the three PRs mentioned above, to leave your repository in a clean state before abandoning it?

[TVolden]

Agreed @robert-s-ubi, the project deserves a dedicated maintainer. I will try to schedule some time to review and merge the PR's you mentioned in the next couple of months.

[RobertDeLeeuw]

If there are more then one organization using this library. Maybe bringing it under an organization like Linux Foundation Energy could be an option. Then goverence is organised. The project still would need a community to maintain/develop the library, but the project would then not be directly linked to one company. (which it is not now)

[mmauksch]

Want to pitch in on this: Yes this library is too useful to just die. I can understand that @TVolden can't spend the energy required to keep this library up to date. Don't think I could do this by myself too. BUT: I would be interested to allocate at least some time to testing and maybe even giving some more small pull requests to this project or its successor. I'm currently using this library to use a subset of ocpp functionalities for a small production series project that's slowly but surely growing in the number of devices using this librabry. Therefore @RobertDeLeeuw or @robert-s-ubi please update this issue if you or someone connected to you is forking this library and giving it more life. I would be happy to provide some of my time supporting :)

[TVolden]

Thanks @mmauksch. I have created a maintenance team in the organization and added you to it. Please let me know if you experience any issues with the current security level.

[mmauksch]

Thanks @TVolden. I've accepted the invitation. I would be happy if we can also get @robert-s-ubi in on this effort as he already has 3 pull requests open that tackle important issues. As far as I can tell he's also pretty involved in the server side of the OCPP protocol because of his work for ubitricity. In my opinion that's valuable kownledge that could help this project.
In general will try to do my best to get familiar with the rights given to me through the team and think about a way on how help out in the most efficient way.

[robert-s-ubi]

Hi @TVolden, unfortunately I was on vacation when you invited me, and the invitation had already expired by the time I got back. Could you resend the invitation?