Roadmap

Netatalk Roadmap

Feature	Discussion	Release Version
Future-proof search backend	For the Spotlight-compatible search backend, we currently use GNOME Tracker (TinySPARQL) which is designed for a desktop environment, and has weak support outside of the Linux ecosystem.	TBD
Future-proof CNID backend	Current default CNID backend is built on Berkeley DB. The open source version is long-unmaintained, and the commercial version is long-unsupported. It is effectively obsoleted technology.	TBD
Future-proof documentation format	Documentation (manual, man pages) is kept in and older DocBook XSL format, which is practically deprecated, as well as rigid and labor intensive to maintain.	4.2
Native metadata storage for macOS hosts	Store resource forks natively in the macOS file system as opposed to using "._" AppleDouble files.	4.1
Future-proof D-Bus backend	We use the dbus-glib library for sending messages from netatalk to D-Bus. This library is long-deprecated, so we need to move to a supported solution.	4.0
Bring back AppleTalk	The AppleTalk transport layer and suite of daemons and tools were removed in 3.0, which caused Netatalk 2.2 to effectively fork off. This is to consolidate Netatalk 3.x and 2.x again.	4.0
Integrate macipgw	The macipgw MacIP gateway daemon depends on Netatalk's libatalk shared library. The project has been long-unmaintained. Bundling with Netatalk makes a lot of sense.	4.0
Integrate the AFP test suite	The AFP test suite has been maintained as a separate project by Netatalk developers since 2002. This is to integrate it with the Netatalk codebase, and get it running in the CI system.	4.0
New cryptographic library for DHCAST128	OpenSSL 3.x dropped support for 128 modulo size DHCAST keys. We need to find a new library for the DHX UAM (important for pre-OSX clients).	3.2
Move to a modern build system	The Autotools build system is slow, rigid and has proven detrimental to rapid iteration, in particular for trying out new dependent libraries. We have chosen to adopt the Meson build system to address these constraints.	3.2

Earlier Release History

SourceForge era Netatalk timeline of features. (2000 - 2022)

Feature	Release Version
Spotlight-compatible search	3.1
MySQL CNID backend	3.1
AFP 3.4 compliance	3.1
Samba interoperability	3.1
Extended Attributes AppleDouble backend	3.0
Unified afp.conf configuration file	3.0
netatalk service controller daemon	3.0
AFP 3.3 compliance	2.2
Filesystem Change Events (FCE) API	2.2
AFP 3.2 compliance	2.1
IPv6 support	2.1
ad toolsuite	2.1
dbd CNID backend as default	2.1
Time Machine-compatible backups	2.0
AFP 3.0/3.1 compliance	2.0
dbd CNID backend controller daemons	2.0
CUPS backend for papd	2.0
AppleDouble v2 metadata support	2.0
UTF-8 filename support	2.0
Large file support	2.0
Kerberos V UAM	2.0
Long filename mangling	1.6
CatalogSearch support	1.6
cdb CNID backend as default	1.6
AppleShare IP (DSI) transport layer	1.5