On Thu, Dec 12, 2002 at 04:01:01AM +0100, Marek Habersack wrote: > > unexcusable. It's different, though, when there's a bug that only > > affects *some* types of installation (upgrade vs. fresh install, upgrade > > from a particular version, conflicts with other packages). It can be > > quite time consuming to test all possible combinations, and often is not > > worth the effort. > True, as long as the bug is in the code that was in place for weeks or > months. But if the bug is in the code which has just been added to a > script/program - then the new code should be especially carefully tested by > the maintainer. And this is the case with postgresql. The maintainer added > code to test for missing /etc/postgresql/postgresql.env and restore it if > necessary - the bug was precisely in that code, which was never tested after > adding it. And in this case the test was trivial, really trivial - it was > sufficient to either move said file out of the way or install the whole > thing in a chroot. Your initial criticism was directed at maintainers who did not install their packages before uploading, or at maintainers who did no testing of their packages at all before uploading. Though the testing required to catch this bug is trivial, it is not always obvious to a maintainer when more testing is needed, or *what* testing is needed -- or what changes will require more testing. An excellent maintainer will test each change thoroughly by testing that specific feature in the live package. Sometimes, it isn't even obvious what the possible side effects are, though. > > In reading the bug report you linked to, I understand that Oliver is > > claiming that he did install the package to test it. I haven't looked > If he did so, he must've noticed that the previous version of postgresql-dev > package has had a bug in its .postrm script - a bug that could've been fixed > in the newer version of the -dev package _if_ the newer version was ever > installed. To cover my words with facts, here's the .postrm script from the > buggy version (typing from memory, the path might be wrong): > #!/bin/sh > rm -f /usr/include/postgresql/libpq++.h Do you mean rm /usr/include/postgresql/libpq++.h ? The command you quoted has '-f' in it, so it will always succeed. > > Maintaining a large server package like postgresql isn't easy, and I > > don't think we have enough developers who are willing to work on this > > kind of package. I don't want the developers we *do* have working on > > large packages to feel unappreciated and abandon them. > Oh, but that's not my intention. As I suggested twice alread - if time is > the issue, find helpers! And postgresql has been giving us many problems in > the past year or so. Therefore I do think that Olivier needs help - but > nobody can push him to ask for it. Easier said than done. Where do you look to find helpers if none volunteer? That's the question, I think. -- Steve Langasek postmodern programmer
Attachment:
pgpwQE4SDlDHR.pgp
Description: PGP signature