On Wed, Aug 18, 2004 at 11:12:59PM +0100, Millis Miller wrote: > Would it not be sensible to add some other state to packages in wnpp, > such that they need to get approved (i.e. have a sponsor come forward) > before being accepted into Debian first? > > This would help avoid people placing an ITP and starting working on the > package, only to find out for one reason or another they're not going to > get a sponsor (as in the mail below). > > Could be called, for example, ATP 'Acceptable to Package', meaning that > there is an opinion that the license is sufficiently Debian-compliant, > and a DD will be willing to sponsor it. If you're going to go to that much trouble to find a package in advance that you're willing to sponsor, then you may as well just say "hang it" and package it yourself. There is at least 75% of the work required to maintain a package yourself in doing a good job of sponsorship. Checking each upload, answering questions, doing the round-and-round with a new sponsee, tracking the package, it's a fair bit of work. At least if you maintain the thing yourself you get a bit more Debian karma. <grin> I sponsor packages because I want to help new maintainers to get some Debian experience. But I can't help even 5% of the people that come through d-mentors, and it appears that the other DDs who hang out there are in similar positions. I don't know whether simply more DDs on d-mentors with a helpful attitude is what's needed, or some sort of "Mentor team", which is a part of NM, to be The People To Talk To about getting packages sponsored. I think that AMs are the perfect people to sponsor packages whilst going through the NM process -- they have a pre-existing knowledge of the sponsee, have regular contact with them, and are generally clueful maintainers themselves. I hate to think what it would do to the already fairly slow throughput of candiates, though, and if the number of people willing to act as AMs would drop if sponsorship were an official responsibility of AMs. - Matt
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