doc: discourage AbortSignal cleanup for long-lived resources

doc/api/child_process.md

@@ -242,6 +242,10 @@ can be used to specify the character encoding used to decode the stdout and
 stderr output. If `encoding` is `'buffer'`, or an unrecognized character
 encoding, `Buffer` objects will be passed to the callback instead.
 
+> Stability: 0 - Deprecated. Using the `signal` option to destroy long-lived
+> child process resources is documentation-only deprecated. See
+> [DEP0208](deprecations.md#dep0208-using-abortsignal-to-dispose-of-resources).
+
 ```cjs
 const { exec } = require('node:child_process');
 exec('cat *.js missing_file | wc -l', (error, stdout, stderr) => {
@@ -390,6 +394,10 @@ except that it does not spawn a shell by default. Rather, the specified
 executable `file` is spawned directly as a new process making it slightly more
 efficient than [`child_process.exec()`][].
 
+> Stability: 0 - Deprecated. Using the `signal` option to destroy long-lived
+> child process resources is documentation-only deprecated. See
+> [DEP0208](deprecations.md#dep0208-using-abortsignal-to-dispose-of-resources).
+
 The same options as [`child_process.exec()`][] are supported. Since a shell is
 not spawned, behaviors such as I/O redirection and file globbing are not
 supported.
@@ -585,6 +593,10 @@ current process.
 The `shell` option available in [`child_process.spawn()`][] is not supported by
 `child_process.fork()` and will be ignored if set.
 
+> Stability: 0 - Deprecated. Using the `signal` option to destroy long-lived
+> child process resources is documentation-only deprecated. See
+> [DEP0208](deprecations.md#dep0208-using-abortsignal-to-dispose-of-resources).
+
 If the `signal` option is enabled, calling `.abort()` on the corresponding
 `AbortController` is similar to calling `.kill()` on the child process except
 the error passed to the callback will be an `AbortError`:
@@ -735,6 +747,10 @@ process, the default is [`process.env`][].
 
 `undefined` values in `env` will be ignored.
 
+> Stability: 0 - Deprecated. Using the `signal` option to destroy long-lived
+> child process resources is documentation-only deprecated. See
+> [DEP0208](deprecations.md#dep0208-using-abortsignal-to-dispose-of-resources).
+
 Example of running `ls -lh /usr`, capturing `stdout`, `stderr`, and the
 exit code:
 

doc/api/deprecations.md

@@ -4643,6 +4643,85 @@
 `res.writableFinished` to confirm whether the response was written
 successfully before the response closed.
 
+### DEP0208: Using `AbortSignal` to dispose of resources
+
+<!-- YAML
+changes:
+  - version: REPLACEME
+    pr-url: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/99999
+    description: Documentation-only deprecation.
+-->
+
+Type: Documentation-only
+
+Using `AbortSignal` to destroy long-lived resources is deprecated. Prefer
+`using` for resource cleanup.
+
+`AbortSignal` is still a good fit for canceling actions, propagating
+cancellation from the outside, and timeouts.
+
+```js
+// Deprecated
+async function example() {
+  const ac = new AbortController();
+  const server = http.createServer(handler);
+  server.listen({ port: 3000, signal: ac.signal });
+
+  await doWork();
+  ac.abort();
+}
+```
+
+```js
+// Use this instead
+async function example() {
+  await using server = http.createServer(handler);
+  server.listen(3000);
+
+  await doWork();
+}
+```
+
+```js
+// Deprecated
+async function example() {
+  const ac = new AbortController();
+  const stream = addAbortSignal(ac.signal, fs.createReadStream(file));
+
+  await consume(stream);
+  ac.abort();
+}
+```
+
+```js
+// Use this instead
+async function example() {
+  await using stream = fs.createReadStream(file);
+
+  await consume(stream);
+}
+```
+
+```js
+// Deprecated
+async function example() {
+  const ac = new AbortController();
+  const child = spawn(command, args, { signal: ac.signal });
+
+  await doWork();
+  ac.abort();
+}
+```
+
+```js
+// Use this instead
+async function example() {
+  using child = spawn(command, args);
+
+  await doWork();
+}
+```
+
 [DEP0142]: #dep0142-repl_builtinlibs
 [DEP0156]: #dep0156-aborted-property-and-abort-aborted-event-in-http
 [NIST SP 800-38D]: https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/SP/nistspecialpublication800-38d.pdf

doc/api/net.md

@@ -588,6 +588,10 @@ Otherwise, if `path` is specified, it behaves the same as
 [`server.listen(path[, backlog][, callback])`][`server.listen(path)`].
 If none of them is specified, an error will be thrown.
 
+> Stability: 0 - Deprecated. Using the `signal` option to destroy long-lived
+> server resources is documentation-only deprecated. See
+> [DEP0208](deprecations.md#dep0208-using-abortsignal-to-dispose-of-resources).
+
 If `exclusive` is `false` (default), then cluster workers will use the same
 underlying handle, allowing connection handling duties to be shared. When
 `exclusive` is `true`, the handle is not shared, and attempted port sharing

doc/api/stream.md

@@ -3555,6 +3555,10 @@ changes:
 Attaches an AbortSignal to a readable or writeable stream. This lets code
 control stream destruction using an `AbortController`.
 
+> Stability: 0 - Deprecated. Using [`stream.addAbortSignal()`][] to destroy
+> long-lived stream resources is documentation-only deprecated. See
+> [DEP0208](deprecations.md#dep0208-using-abortsignal-to-dispose-of-resources).
+
 Calling `abort` on the `AbortController` corresponding to the passed
 `AbortSignal` will behave the same way as calling `.destroy(new AbortError())`
 on the stream, and `controller.error(new AbortError())` for webstreams.