The founders of the Packman package repository announced their decision to close the project on December 31, 2026, if no one steps up to continue working on it. The Packman project (distinct from the pacman package manager) was established 25 years ago to build an independent repository of RPM packages for openSUSE and SUSE Linux distributions. Its primary goal is to offer newer package versions or components that cannot be included in official repositories due to legal or licensing restrictions.
The decision to shut down the project stems from the diminishing interest and resources for maintaining classic repositories like Packman. With the rise of new software delivery technologies like Flatpak, user demand for Packman has decreased. Rather than allowing the project to gradually fade away and leave users with obsolete packages, the Packman maintainers have opted to either conclude the project entirely or hand it over to new caretakers.
Prospective individuals interested in continuing the Packman project will need to establish and sustain their own infrastructure. They will receive guidance on setting up and leveraging the existing experience, as well as access to system images for build servers and scripts for packaging and authenticating packages. The new team will take on responsibilities such as managing hosting, build infrastructure, repositories, and community engagement. In the absence of a new team, all build servers and repositories will be deactivated by the end of 2026.
As an alternative, there is a consideration to split tasks among multiple teams or integrate Packman into the OBS service (openSUSE Build Service). However, the feasibility of this integration is in question as OBS does not permit the aggregation of multimedia codecs that constitute the core of Packman due to licensing constraints.