Automating cleanup of AUR

[Xyne]

On 2021-12-11 17:06 +0300
Caleb Maclennan via aur-dev wrote:

>On 2021-12-11 13:37, Xyne via aur-dev wrote:
>> I suggest that any automatic removal of orphans after x months be 
>> combined with
>> 2 additional conditions: last download y months ago  
>
>I would agree with this rule, but it also shows why this idea is also 
>unfeasible.
>I can't think of any way you're going to be able to tell the difference 
>between
>bots "downloading" packages and actual users. It's possible that 
>pkgstats.de
>could be leveraged here, but even a zero number there may not be the 
>final answer
>that is needed.
>
>Caleb

What about ignoring all downloads from a given address based on bot-like
behavior such as downloading hundreds of packages in a short interval, or
repeated download checks at fixed intervals? Any bot sweeping the AUR for info
should be easy to spot server-side, and any bot downloading specific packages
should probably be considered an indication of the package's continued usage
when deciding to purge orphans.

The automatic removal should remain conservative so I don't see it as an issue
if some packages are accidentally flagged as still in use. They will simply
require a human to review and manually delete them in that case. The automatic
removal should still handle the bulk of it.

Regards,
Xyne