I've been using angular-ui since version 0.12. It's been great. They did an incredible job putting together AngularJS based directives for almost all of the Bootstrap stuff and a whole lot more. My favorite, honestly, is the modal service they created. It works like a charm.
Like you know, I have a new project and I am sticking to AngularJS (the crime, I know) (did you know that they will release version 1.7? It will be the final. But, in good news, it will be supported for three years along with ngMaterial, if you're into that). So, of course, I went over to the trusty angular-ui website to download a customized version of the library - no need for all the components, six or seven will do) and then went to Github for some catching up and..not supported.
Hm.
Mm.
It seems that the maintainers have moved on to other things. Mainly ng (or Angular - no JS). v2 or v5 depending on your take. So, they are no longer supporting this. Squirrels are captivating. And they are not selecting anyone else because OSS is hard, and they do not think that just anyone can do it. And they are closing all new issues with "no longer supported." Read the issues, you'll see what I mean.
That's a problem.
If I would have paid for a third-party toolset, this probably would not happen. There would be support for some time, there would be a version to upgrade to (that isn't a re-write), there would be something. Unless they went bankrupt, then too bad, too sad.
Not with OSS. Not anymore. Maintainers drop off the earth. They move on. Projects become unsupported. Life moves on. Marriages. Kids. Retirement.
Apps do not.
If I know one thing, is that apps never move on. They hang around for decades until they get re-written or are no longer used. It's those shorts you keep around even though there are much nicer ones, better ones, but you just can't let these go. You keep the shorts hanging around, doing their thing. Doing it well. There are LoB apps like that everywhere. That is, in the business world that's what happens. In the world where no one wants to spend another six-figure amount to redesign, rearchitect, redevelop a working app. Re-train everyone. Where maybe they want to, but who can justify it? Apps don't move on. Only in Silicon Valley, with venture money to burn through is that a thing (I guess). And I guess in the state we live in now, with developers jumping on board to work on greenfield things daily, there's plenty of opportunity for new apps to use new frameworks. I guess. But, not in my world. Not the folks I work with. Not anyone that has to pay for it with hard earned cash.
Wow, that's the worst digression I've ever had. Need to keep my eye on that. Back to the issue at hand.
So, angular-ui is dead. Now what? I have a few ideas and associated posts that will guide me (and you) through what I think I'll do. But just like my AngularJS argument, I am tired of having to move on to new things with breaking changes. Frameworks that want to do things that make it hard to move on or switch. Dependencies, all in the name of a quick fix that eventually causes heart ache (yes, it's mostly your fault NPM).
I'll close with this: I know this is not the best, nicest post ever. I know there are those that would disagree. And I would like to too. But, OSS is tough. Really tough. And maintainers move on and no one steps in. I love OSS. I've tried to help where I can and offer help (from experience) or commit code. My own libraries have been put out there. But committing to using a project has a price. Be sure you can afford it.
P.S. - As a fellow developer, I could try and take over. Right? But can I? Like the angular-ui folks say, it's a lot of work. And it's a really large code base. That I am not familiar with, at all. It's magic (right?). And the folks in charge of this simulation have removed hours from my day and I now have four hours less than most. (I haven't been able to prove it, but I know that throughout the day, time fast forwards effectively removing workable time from my 24 hour allotment). So, like so many users, I also walk away. Leaving angular-ui to become like those ghost towns strewn thought America's heartland. Remnants of a glorious and prosperous (or not so glorious and prosperous) time where the hustling and bustling was enviable. And then as quiet as the sun coming over the horizon - it's over. Tumbleweeds. (In GitHub a tumbleweed would be the equivalent of someone posting an issue "Is this project still supported?")