[spirit] Stepping down as Spirit maintainer
Dear Boost Community, Today I am writing to inform you that I am resigning as the maintainer of Boost.Spirit, effective immediately. In autumn 2024, I began C++23 modernization work on Spirit, planned as a gradual improvement over the existing C++17-based code. However, this effort was strongly discouraged within the Boost community, which resulted in the repository being split into a separate project: `boostorg/spirit_x4` (*). (*) https://lists.boost.org/archives/list/boost@lists.boost.org/thread/K3EQLEQJH... Due to the accusations and personal attacks I received, primarily on the mailing list and also in some GitHub issues, I have been experiencing panic attacks for the past three months. I am unable to open GitHub notifications because they trigger flashbacks. I have not been able to write a single line of code since October. I am on medication, and my doctor says the only practical solution is for me to step away from what is causing the stress. I have to admit that splitting the repository was the worst decision which I was effectively forced to make, and it has done little more than fragment the community. But that has already happened. The existing `boostorg/spirit_x4` repository is, in effect, already a fork. Given that, I do not see why I should continue developing it within this organization. I would prefer to simplify the governance by moving the project under my own organization, rather than continuing to deal with conflicts of interest in a larger community. I have already shared my current status with Joel de Guzman, the original author of the library, and he is aware that I plan to fork. Thanks, Nana Sakisaka
On February 3, 2026 7:52:48 AM Nana Sakisaka via Boost <boost@lists.boost.org> wrote:
Dear Boost Community,
Today I am writing to inform you that I am resigning as the maintainer of Boost.Spirit, effective immediately.
I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you feel better, and good luck with your future work.
On 2/3/26 8:53 PM, Andrey Semashev via Boost wrote:
On February 3, 2026 7:52:48 AM Nana Sakisaka via Boost <boost@lists.boost.org> wrote:
Dear Boost Community,
Today I am writing to inform you that I am resigning as the maintainer of Boost.Spirit, effective immediately.
I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you feel better, and good luck with your future work.
I’m sorry to hear about the stress this has caused, and I respect Nana’s decision to step away effective immediately. I also appreciate the work Nana has contributed to Boost.Spirit and the effort invested in recent modernization work. At this point, I don’t yet know what the right path forward is, and I’m not in the right headspace to make decisions right now. The obvious immediate need is a new maintainer. If you are able to step up, please email me so we can coordinate next steps. In the meantime, I will take on maintainership to keep things moving. Regards, -- Joel de Guzman Cycfi Research, Inc.
Dear Nana, I am truly sorry to hear this. No one should go through accusations or personal attacks. Technical debates are one thing but personal and emotional attacks do not belong in open source communities (or any community), in GitHub issues, nor on mailing lists. It is too easy to forget that coders are humans, that humans have feelings, and that everyone reaches their limit at some point. This is how we lose people who care deeply about what they build. The most important thing right now is that you take care of yourself, get some rest, and find some distance from what has been causing you harm. Your health matters more than any project or organization. Whatever you decide going forward, thank you for the work you’ve done and for the time and energy you’ve invested. Please know that I would be glad to hear from you again, whenever and however feels right to you. Take care, Arno
On Tue, 3 Feb 2026 at 05:52, Nana Sakisaka via Boost <boost@lists.boost.org> wrote:
Dear Boost Community,
Today I am writing to inform you that I am resigning as the maintainer of Boost.Spirit, effective immediately.
In autumn 2024, I began C++23 modernization work on Spirit, planned as a gradual improvement over the existing C++17-based code. However, this effort was strongly discouraged within the Boost community, which resulted in the repository being split into a separate project: `boostorg/spirit_x4` (*).
I am really sorry to hear this. As others have said, your health goes first, so please take care of yourself. I hope you can get better soon. As a community, do we want to somehow do some (positive) self-criticism to see what went wrong here? Thanks, Rubén.
On 04/02/2026 13:56, Ruben Perez via Boost wrote:
As a community, do we want to somehow do some (positive) self-criticism to see what went wrong here? IMHO that would be the best course of action to try to avoid further damage like this in the future.
I'm a relatively fresh member of this list and still mainly inactive. I read (yes, really) the Discussion Policy before joining and liked what I read. All the more sad that it seems that even the boost community does not always achieve a purely factual and friendly discussion (though I do see this objectivity in the vast majority of contributions!). Maybe it could be a good first step, if everyone re-read said document on this occasion? https://www.boost.org/doc/user-guide/discussion-policy.html Cheers, Kai -- "[The internet] doesn't work in couch-potato mode." [Philip Elmer-DeWitt in TIME] D-55120 Meenz fon :+49 6131 6063865 fast: kaibar (aT] posteo(dot)net ++ PGP Key fingerprint 1E92 F0AA 25DA 028A 229A 645E 00F2 596A 9662 CEB2 ++ -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- VERSION: 3.12 GCS/IT d- s: a++>-----(?) C++$ UL++(++++) P++ L++$ E-(+) W--(+) N !w--- !O !M V? PS+ PE-() Y+ PGP++ t R@* tv--(-) b+>++ DI++ G e+++(*) h? y? ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------
participants (6)
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Andrey Semashev -
Arnaud Becheler -
Joel de Guzman -
Kai Bartels -
Nana Sakisaka -
Ruben Perez