Hi Emma,
On Sun, May 5, 2019, at 12:49 AM, Emma Tosch wrote:
I have a project that I would like to post on PyPI that clashes with an existing project that I believe may be abandoned
I don't have the answers to your actual questions about who to contact. But have you seen the rather stringent criteria for removing an abandoned project:
"""
Projects are never removed from the Package Index solely on the basis
of abandonment.
...
the candidate is able to demonstrate that the project suggested to
reuse the name already exists and meets notability requirements;
the candidate is able to demonstrate why a fork under a different name
is not an acceptable workaround;
"""
This is stricter than the criteria for taking over an abandoned project to improve its code. By design, there's a very high bar to replace a name without the consent of the original author. If there's any possibility of using a different name, that might be easier.
Best wishes,
Thomas