_ "crypto/tls/fipsonly in main.go prevent update pacakges

 When you import a package like _ "crypto/tls/fipsonly" in your Go project, it can lead to complications with updating dependencies and running commands like go mod tidy. The crypto/tls/fipsonly package, when imported, enforces FIPS-compliant cryptography which might restrict certain cryptographic algorithms and packages.

Understanding _ "crypto/tls/fipsonly"

• Special Import: The _ import in Go is used for side effects only. When you import _ "crypto/tls/fipsonly", it ensures that FIPS-compliant cryptographic algorithms are used.
• FIPS Compliance: FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standards) compliance requires that only specific cryptographic algorithms and implementations are used. This can prevent the use of non-compliant algorithms and restrict certain dependencies.
• Impact on Dependencies: Importing this package can affect how other dependencies are resolved and loaded, potentially causing issues with updating them if they do not conform to FIPS standards.

Why It Prevents Updating Packages

1. Dependency Constraints:

   • The import enforces cryptographic constraints that may not be compatible with some of the modules or dependencies you are trying to update. This can lead to conflicts when go get or go mod tidy attempts to update or tidy up the dependencies.

2. Compatibility Issues:

   • Dependencies that rely on non-FIPS-compliant cryptographic algorithms might not be loadable or updatable because they conflict with the requirements enforced by crypto/tls/fipsonly.

3. Restricted Modules:

   • Certain modules might be restricted or flagged as incompatible due to their use of non-FIPS-compliant cryptographic functions. This can prevent go mod tidy from cleaning up the go.mod file correctly.

Steps to Address the Issue

1. Identify and Understand the Restriction:

   • Understand why you are using _ "crypto/tls/fipsonly". If your project needs to enforce FIPS compliance, you may need to find FIPS-compliant versions of your dependencies.

2. Temporary Removal for Update:

   • Temporarily remove the import of _ "crypto/tls/fipsonly" to update the dependencies. You can add it back after the update.

   Remove Import:

   go
   // Comment out the import
   // import _ "crypto/tls/fipsonly"
   

3. Update Dependencies:

   • With the FIPS restriction removed, update your dependencies:

   sh
   go get -u ./...
   go mod tidy