[HN Gopher] OpenEoX to Standardize End-of-Life (EOL) and End-of-...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       OpenEoX to Standardize End-of-Life (EOL) and End-of-Support (EOS)
       Information
        
       Author : feldrim
       Score  : 26 points
       Date   : 2025-05-12 15:02 UTC (7 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (openeox.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (openeox.org)
        
       | feldrim wrote:
       | An SBOM-like approach to EOL/EOS issues is on the way.
        
         | rollcat wrote:
         | I think the only large projects that presently take SBOMs
         | seriously are Nix, Guix, and Go (non-cgo). Bootstrapping is
         | non-trivial, but at least builds are reproducible and can be
         | compared against existing binaries.
         | 
         | "Oh, just write plain C". Which compiler do you mean? GCC?
         | LLVM/clang? On top of what OS/kernel? What firmware? Etc.
        
           | Arnavion wrote:
           | Some distros packaging Rust software (OpenSUSE at least) also
           | transparently set up CARGO=cargo-audit to get embedded SBOMs.
        
       | wallrat wrote:
       | How does this relate to the OWASP/Ecma Common Lifecycle
       | Enumeration Specification (https://tc54.org/cle/)?
        
       | wpollock wrote:
       | In my experience, many software projects become abandoned and no
       | notice is given. I don't see how this standard helps in such
       | cases.
        
       | repelsteeltje wrote:
       | I think it will take a while for people to realize this effort
       | looked great, but wasn't the right approach. Or no silver bullet,
       | at least.
       | 
       | The presentation with a simple diagram that combines this data
       | with an sbom to yield "information" gives me navel gazing vibes
       | of UML being _the future of coding_.
       | 
       | Just as _architecture_ didn 't equate to well designed and
       | maintainable software, I fear this initiative won't fix horribly
       | outdated and vulnerable deployments. Software life cycle,
       | deprecation, abandonment, supply chains are mostly a process
       | problem, standards and technology won't fix that.
        
         | Arnavion wrote:
         | It doesn't force someone who already wasn't checking their
         | dependencies for CVEs / maintained-ness to start doing that. It
         | does make someone who *was* doing that be able to show they're
         | doing that in some standard way.
         | 
         | In other words it doesn't force you to add an SBOM + EOX
         | checker step to your CI pipeline. But if your compliance
         | auditor wants you to check your dependencies, adding such a
         | standardized step makes it easier to satisfy the auditor.
        
           | repelsteeltje wrote:
           | I'm basing this mostly off first hand and anecdotal evidence
           | - but through the years I've found that the major
           | contribution of audits lies in having to think about the
           | checkboxes every now and then. And what they mean in the
           | context of my organization or project.
           | 
           | Rarely have I found that compliance to the goals was an issue
           | in themselves. Or that making changes to tick a checkbox
           | correlated to material improvements.
           | 
           | That is to say that if this leads to more efficiency and
           | _makes it easier for compliance audits and such_ , I fear is
           | stream lining the least impactful part of its goals.
        
             | hiatus wrote:
             | > Rarely have I found that compliance to the goals was an
             | issue in themselves. Or that making changes to tick a
             | checkbox correlated to material improvements.
             | 
             | I am confused when I hear people say stuff like this. I
             | guess if you turn on a tool and never look at it again, it
             | won't result in material improvements. But complying with
             | regulations or a particular compliance regime should
             | _absolutely_ result in at least _some_ material improvement
             | to your security posture. Like you can implement
             | segregation of duties just as a checkbox, or use the
             | requirement to revisit the way you gate changes to
             | production, as just one example.
        
       | T3OU-736 wrote:
       | Htm. So, how does this compare, and/or is different from
       | https://endoflife.date?
        
         | Arnavion wrote:
         | The standard is for software to report its own EOL / EOS
         | status. The website you linked is the opposite direction - it's
         | aggregating that status for a certain set of software.
        
           | T3OU-736 wrote:
           | Aha. Very good point. SW self-reporting requires buy-in,
           | though, which seems like a pretty high barrier.
           | 
           | I am very much hoping the effort succeeds, but I am also
           | mindful of the fact that the site to which I have linked is
           | more successful by virtue of having better coverage.
        
       | mud_dauber wrote:
       | JEDEC has long maintained an EOL/EOS standard for semiconductors.
       | This was a big part of a previous PM gig. Sounds boring, and it
       | was. But having a process kept us out of serious hot water.
        
       | Hackbraten wrote:
       | That EoX logo though.
       | 
       | Every organization or committee that designs a logo should be
       | legally required to have at least one teenager on the board to
       | prevent accidental goatse or other inadvertent blunders.
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2025-05-12 23:01 UTC)