Downloads page out of sync with SPIRE releases

[rturner3]

As of v1.3.0, SPIRE started publishing binary tarballs and checksum files for Windows. This broke the links on the Downloads page of the website because the association between the release artifact download buttons and the GitHub artifact links assumed that the third and fourth items in the release Assets list were the Linux Extras and Extras checksum files, but now the third and fourth release artifacts in the list are the Windows binary package and checksum. The Assets in the GitHub release are automatically alphabetically ordered, so depending on the ordering is not necessarily stable.

Additionally, for v1.3.0 releases onwards, there are no links to Windows binaries + checksums for SPIRE and SPIRE extras.

Related issues:
#270
#275

Given all these outstanding issues, I think the Downloads page is in need of a bit of an overhaul at this point. Since this has been historically challenging to keep in sync with SPIRE release practices, I wonder if there are any other ways to present the download information on the website that would require less maintenance over time? Some initial ideas that come to mind:

• Trim down the page to link directly to GitHub releases for different projects (SPIRE, Helm Charts, etc.). This allows each project to continue to evolve its release practices without having to update the website (e.g. supporting new CPU architecture or OS)
• For SPIRE specifically, only list the release links for the most recent patch versions in the last two minor release series, (e.g. as of writing, 1.6.3 and 1.5.6). That might be tricky to code, but it does at least avoid the problem of how to display the Windows download links for only the versions where they are available.

[sanderson042]

Good points, Ryan. Your first option seems like the path of least resistance and gets my vote:

Trim down the page to link directly to GitHub releases for different projects

[sanderson042]

I may have time to work on this bug. My plan is the same as my April comment, which is to use Ryan's first option of linking to the GitHub releases pages such as https://github.com/spiffe/spire/releases. I would remove the existing structure of download links by SPIRE version but keep most of the rest of the info on the downloads page. I'd address the two related bugs in this bug's description.

@rturner3 @mchurichi Before I start, does this still sound like a good plan?

[mchurichi]

@sanderson042 Sounds like a good plan to me. Trying to keep up with the artifacts' structure doesn't scale.

[mchurichi]

@sanderson042 just checking if there's anything I can help with, I have some free cycles.

[sanderson042]

Hi @mchurichi - I started work on this a while ago. I think I'm about 75% done. I hope to have some time to work on this in the coming days. Thanks for offering to help. I'll need that for a PR review for sure and I'll let you know if something else comes up.