F36 Change: Retire the NIS(+) user-space utility programs (System-Wide Change proposal)

[Ben Cotton]

https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/retire_NIS_user_space_utils

== Summary ==

This change is about retiring the ypbind, yp-tools, and ypserv
packages, and removal of the {nis,yp}domainname user-space utility
programs from the hostname package.

== Owner ==

* Name: [[User:besser82 | Björn Esser]]
* Email: [e-mail]

== Detailed Description ==
Those utility programs used to be present on virtually any UNIX system
for decades, but are starting to become more and more deprecated.
Also NIS(+) is known for not being secure at all.  As we are going to
[https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/drop_NIS_support_from_PAM
remove the support for NIS(+) in PAM] during this development cycle,
we also should get rid of those.

== Feedback ==
There was some discussion on
[https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[e-mail]/...
the fedora-devel mailing-list].  Some people are reluctant about the
removal of NIS(+) user-space support, while most are okay with it as
there are more secure alternatives (LDAP, FreeIPA, etc.) available.
The FPL is +1 on doing so.

== Benefit to Fedora ==
With this change we start directing our users and developers to move
away from NIS(+) to secure alternatives like LDAP and/or FreeIPA.

== Scope ==
* Proposal owners:
** Retire the ypbind, yp-tools, and ypserv packages from Fedora.
** Remove the {nis,yp}domainname user-space utility programs from the
hostname package.
* Other developers:
** Test this change.
* Release engineering: [https://pagure.io/releng/issue/10352 #10352]
* Policies and guidelines: N/A (not needed for this Change)
* Trademark approval: N/A (not needed for this Change)
* Alignment with Objectives: N/A

== Upgrade/compatibility impact ==
Users that were relying on support for NIS(+) will need to move to
secure alternatives like LDAP and/or FreeIPA.

== How To Test ==
Check whether the named utility programs are still installed on your
system after upgrading.  If they are gone, everything is fine.

== User Experience ==
For some users this change may be a bit disruptive and it may require
some learning curve for switching to alternative solutions.

== Dependencies ==
There are actually no external dependencies.

== Contingency Plan ==
* Contingency mechanism: Unretire the packages and build them for Fedora 36.
* Contingency deadline: At beta freeze.
* Blocks release? Yes.

== Documentation ==
The documentation about those utility programs should be dropped, if
there even is any.

== Release Notes ==
The NIS(+) user-space utility programs have been removed from the distribution.