Please remove dependencies on **rgdal**, **rgeos**, and/or **maptools**

[rsbivand]

This package depends on (depends, imports or suggests) raster and one or more of the retiring packages rgdal, rgeos or maptools (https://r-spatial.org/r/2022/04/12/evolution.html, https://r-spatial.org/r/2022/12/14/evolution2.html). Since raster 3.6.3, all use of external FOSS library functionality has been transferred to terra, making the retiring packages very likely redundant. It would help greatly if you could remove dependencies on the retiring packages as soon as possible.

[timcdlucas]

Hi @AugustT @goldingn and others.

What do we want to do about this? Between core Zoon and the modules it sounds like it might be quite a lot of work. I guess this a moment for us to decide what we want to do with Zoon more long term. If someone has time/money that'd be fantastic, but I'm guessing that might not be the case. So archiving or something might be the appropriate solution.

[rsbivand]

The code in zoon does not use rgdal, so adding terra in Suggests:, and removing rgdal from Imports: and NAMESPACE would show where any rgdal functionality was actually being used. It looks as though you use sp::CRS() and sp::spTransform(), which call out to rgdal conditionally. Please try removing rgdal and making sure that sp is loaded after setting options("sp_evolution_status"=2) - see the section on this in the second blog. We expect to flip sp to default status 2 in June.

By the way, updating CRS handling from Proj.4 strings to WKT2-2019 is strongly advised.

[AugustT]

@timcdlucas @goldingn - Hi both, I no longer have time to support Zoon, so I would suggest that unless we can find someone to maintain it, it should be archived. Do we know if there is a user community that would be impacted by such a move?

[rsbivand]

The current schedule for retiring rgdal etc. is October 2023. I suggest that you ask CRAN to archive zoon before October if you decide that is best in the longer term.

[rsbivand]

Please also see https://r-spatial.org/r/2023/04/10/evolution3.html, fix best by June, latest October 2023.

[rsbivand]

@AugustT I assume that the package has been archived, and that you can thus close this issue now.