F37 Proposal: Node.js 18.x by default (System-Wide Change proposal)

[Ben Cotton]

This document represents a proposed Change. As part of the Changes
process, proposals are publicly announced in order to receive
community feedback. This proposal will only be implemented if approved
by the Fedora Engineering Steering Committee.

https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/Nodejs18

== Summary ==
The latest release of Node.js to carry a 30-month lifecycle is the
18.x series. As with 16.x, 14.x, 12.x, 10.x and 8.x before it, Fedora
37 will carry 18.x as the default Node.js interpreter for the system.
The 16.x, and 14.x interpreters will remain available as non-default
module streams.

== Owner ==
* Name: [[User:Sgallagh| Stephen Gallagher]]
* Email: [e-mail]
* Responsible SIG: Node.js SIG

== Detailed Description ==

Fedora 37 will ship with the latest LTS version of Node.js. '''dnf
install nodejs''' will give users nodejs-18.x and the matching npm
package.

== Benefit to Fedora ==
Node.js is a popular server-side JavaScript engine. Keeping Fedora on
the latest release allows us to continue tracking the state-of-the-art
in that space. For those whose applications do not yet work with the
18.x release, Fedora 37 will also have the 16.x and 14.x releases
available as selectable module streams.

== Scope ==
* Proposal owners:
The packages are already built for Fedora 34, 35, and 36 in a
non-default module stream. On June 6th, 2022, the nodejs-18.x packages
will be built in the non-modular repository and thus become the
default in Fedora 37.

* Other developers: N/A (not a System Wide Change)

Any developer with a package that depends on Node.js at run-time or
build-time should test with the 18.x module stream enabled as soon as
possible. Issues should be reported to [e-mail]

* Release engineering: We will coordinate with the Node.js SIG to
create a side-tag to perform any necessary rebuilds before making 18.x
the default.

* Policies and guidelines: N/A (not needed for this Change)
* Trademark approval: N/A (not needed for this Change)

== Upgrade/compatibility impact ==
As with previous releases, users running Fedora 35 or Fedora 36 with
the non-modular nodejs-16.x packages will be automatically upgraded to
the 18.x packages when they upgrade to Fedora 37, which may cause
compatibility issues. If users are running software known not to
support Node.js 18.x yet, they can switch the system to use 16.x with
'''dnf module''' commands.

== How To Test ==
* Confirm that `dnf install nodejs` results in Node.js 18.x being installed.
* Confirm that upgrading from Fedora 35 or Fedora 36 with nodejs-16.x
installed (non-modular) results in an upgrade to nodejs-18.x
* Confirm that upgrading from Fedora 35 or Fedora 36 with the
`nodejs:16` module enabled does *not* result in an upgrade to 18.x and
still has the `nodejs:16` module enabled on Fedora 37.
* Confirm that upgrading from Fedora 35 or Fedora 36 with the
`nodejs:18` module enabled upgrades successfully and still has the
`nodejs:16` module stream enabled on Fedora 37.

== User Experience ==
Users will have the 18.x release of Node.js available by default. See
the "Upgrade/compatibility impact" section for specific details.

== Dependencies ==
All packages prefixed with `nodejs-` depend on this package. If they
do not work with Node.js 16.x, they will need to be updated, made
modular and dependent upon the `nodejs:16` stream or else removed from
Fedora 37.

Prior to the switchover date to Node.js 18.x as the default, packagers
are strongly encouraged to test their existing Node modules with 18.x
via the Modular version by running:

<pre>
dnf module reset nodejs
dnf module install nodejs:18/development
</pre>

Packagers can also test their builds using `mock` by creating the file
`/etc/mock/fedora-rawhide-x86_64-nodejs18.cfg` with the following
contents:

<pre>
config_opts['target_arch'] = 'x86_64'
config_opts['legal_host_arches'] = ('x86_64',)
config_opts['enable_disable_repos'] = ['--enablerepo', 'rawhide-modular']
config_opts['module_install'] = ['nodejs:18/development']

include('templates/fedora-rawhide.tpl')
</pre>

Then call
<pre>
mock -r fedora-rawhide-x86_64-nodejs18 --enablerepo=rawhide-modular nodejs-foo
</pre>

(Note that the `--enablerepo=rawhide-modular` portion looks redundant,
but this is because of
[https://github.com/rpm-software-management/mock/issues/591 a mock
bug])

== Contingency Plan ==
* Contingency mechanism: Revert to Node.js 16.x as the default Node.js
interpreter. This will require bumping epoch.
* Contingency deadline: Beta Freeze
* Blocks release? No
* Blocks product? No

== Documentation ==
* https://nodejs.org/dist/latest-v18.x/docs/api/
* https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/master/doc/changelogs/CHANGELOG_V18.md
* https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/packaging-guidelines/Node.js/

== Release Notes ==
Fedora 37 now ships with Node.js 18.x as the default Node.js
JavaScript server-side engine. If your applications are not yet ready
for this newer version, you can revert to the 16.x series by running
the following commands

<pre>
dnf remove nodejs
dnf module reset nodejs
dnf module install nodejs:16
</pre>

[Miro Hrončok]

On 29. 04. 22 23:49, Ben Cotton wrote:
> This document represents a proposed Change. As part of the Changes
> process, proposals are publicly announced in order to receive
> community feedback. This proposal will only be implemented if approved
> by the Fedora Engineering Steering Committee.

Thanks!