On 2015-11-12, Alexander Wirt <formorer@debian.org> wrote: > On Fri, 13 Nov 2015, Dmitry Smirnov wrote: >> I seek your approval to upload jessie-backports of "calligra" and "zabbix". >> I'm planning to backport current stable releases but they are not in >> "testing" and never going to be in "testing": ... >> I believe those packages would provide a nice added value to Jessie. >> What do you think? > I am sorry, but we already made stated several times that we don't want to > support such configurations. Backports is for packages from testing. > > You are looking for something like stable update or a private repo. The responses from the backports team on this type of issue sometimes seems a little on the harsh side, at least to me, given that people are just following (a plausible interpretation of) what is documented in the Contribute page: http://backports.debian.org/Contribute/#index7h3 "To guarantee an upgrade path from stable+backports to the next stable, the package should be in testing.. Of course there are some exceptions: Security updates. If your package had a security update you can upload a new backport even if its not yet in testing. There are also some other exception for packages like the kernel, xorg or libreoffice." "If you feel you would need to diverge from these rules, either discuss it on the mailinglist or bring it up with the Backports Team for an exception." I'm wondering if the above language is leading people to ask for exceptions... too often? too frivalously? If the "Contribute" language is inconsistant with Backports Team practices, it may setting up contributors and the backports team for an unpleasant experience. Language that brings more clarity on when it is ok to upload outside of testing, or clarity about how unlikely it is to be acceptible, or to make the language on "Contribute" even more strict, etc. seems like a good idea to me. I'd be happy to lend my native en_US skills to help craft clearer language that reflects the current backports team policies. I really do value a strong policy about not accepting packages outside of testing, but I also want to make sure the documentation for contributors leads us to a more positive experience for everyone. Thanks for all your work on backports, everyone! live well, vagrant
Attachment:
signature.asc
Description: PGP signature