Last release two years ago - why no regular releases?

[philipmw]

Hello all. I am a new Emacs user, exploring using Emacs as an IDE for a TypeScript-based project. I ran into an issue that I believe was fixed two months ago: #4202

The issue was fixed in the codebase, but I have no clear way to get this change. My Emacs installed packages are all on their latest versions. lsp-mode is on version 8.0.0, which is both the latest available version and is two years old.

Now friends suggest I use a different package system to pick up a newer git commit. I could do that, but that adds complexity to my Emacs setup. I am concerned on behalf of all lsp-mode users who might run into any issue discovered and fixed over the last two years, have no simple way to get the fix, and maybe give up on lsp-mode and even Emacs entirely.

My ideal outcome is that lsp-mode would make a new release regularly and frequently, and my Emacs would update to it. Why hasn't there been a release in over two years? That is unusual for a software project.

edit: A friend pointed out that I am using MELPA Stable, while the non-stable MELPA has a much newer version. That's my path forward for now. Still, I believe the issue is relevant since we know that the MELPA Stable version is broken, yet the project doesn't make a release.

[yyoncho]

I will write more detailed answer later but as a starter you may check this one: https://www.reddit.com/r/emacs/comments/etikbz/speaking_as_a_package_maintainer_please_do_not/

[philipmw]

Thanks; this is very helpful. As a new Emacs user, I didn't know about the bigger picture and overall shortcoming of MELPA Stable.