New developer looking for packages
Hi,
I have recently joined this list, and I am not sure what the
protocols are yet, so please go easy on me.
I have been on the user list for a long time, but have only
recently installed debian, and (finally) I would like to contribute
to the project. Since time is the major constraint, I would like to
work with things I am already familiar with, and I would like to
package and maintain the following (I am on the developers list for
these packages):
1) Dist-3.0 (currently at patchlevel 60)
2) mailagent 3.0 (currently at patchlevel 44)
[Descriptions are appended below.]
I also have talked to the current maintainer of c2man, and
would be taking over the package after the current release.
How does the new package process work? Do I need permission,
and if so, whose permission?
manoj
1) Dist-3.0 (currently at patchlevel 60):
The dist package is a set of tools meant to ease the
construction and maintenance of portable software. There are
four distinct parts in dist, and it is also used by (amonst
others) perl, c2man, mailagent and patch (the original patch,
not the FSF version).
This is the package that generates the Configure script used
in perl, and is (IMHO) far more thorough than autoconfig.
2) mailagent 3.0 (currently at patchlevel 44):
A more flexible (and powerful) alternative to procmail.
Mailagent allows you to process your mail automatically. Given
a set of lex-like rules, you are able to fill mails to
specific folders, forward messages to a third person, pipe a
message to a command or even post the message to a
newsgroup. It is also possible to process messages containing
some commands. The mailagent is not usually invoked manually
but is rather called via the filter program, which is in turn
invoked by sendmail. That means you must have sendmail on
your system to use this. You also must have perl to run the
mailagent scripts.
Mailagent has actually four distinct set of features, which
can be used simultaneously or one at a time. This involves:
+ An @SH command processor, to remain compatible with the
first imple mentation. In this simplest usage, all the
mail messages are left in your mailbox, with special
processing raised on messages whose subject is Command.
+ A complete mail filter, which helps you sort your mail
based on various sorting criteria and actions. Filtering
is specified in a rule file. You may deliver mail to
plain Unix-style folders but also to MMDF and MH ones.
+ A replacement for the vacation program, which will
automatically answer your mail while you are not
there. You only need to supply a message to be sent back
and the frequency at which this will occur. Some simple
macro substitutions allow you to re-use some parts of the
mail header into your vacation message, for a more
personalized reply.
+ A generic mail server, which will let you implement a
real mail server without the hassle of the lower-level
concerns like error recovery, logging or command
parsing.
-- Neanderthalers, low of forehead, Slunk through prehistoric mists
Thinking men were pretty horrid-- Using spears against their fists!
Manoj Srivastava Project Pilgrim, Department of Computer Science
Phone: (413) 545-3918 A143B Lederle Graduate Research Center
Fax: (413) 545-1249 University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003
email:srivasta@pilgrim.umass.edu http://www.pilgrim.umass.edu/~srivasta/
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