Re: Is Ubuntu a debian derivative or is it a fork?
On Wed, Jun 01, 2005 at 08:08:02AM +0200, Andreas Tille wrote:
> If there are inactive maintainers in Debian why not starting group
> maintainance? The Ubuntu maintainer might be listed in the Uploaders
> field and find a sponsor to upload the package (in the best case the other
> maintainer).
This would be very convenient, but it isn't quite as simple as this. If the
maintainer is inactive, how does the Uploaders field get changed? Ubuntu
developers will not hijack packages in Debian.
In cases where team maintenance already exists (for example, GNOME and d-i),
Ubuntu developers already participate in team maintenance in Debian, and
this works well, but in the traditional Debian maintainer model, there are
just too many obstacles for this kind of direct participation.
> THis is called group maintainance and IMHO the biggest problem in Debian
> is that outsiders often assume they just have to wait until something in
> Debian is done. If they are active persons they do something outside
> others just whine about Debian. But the best solution would be how to
> learn how to do things *inside* Debian instead of forking / spooning /
> deriving / whatevering.
Derivatives are a fact of life, and have been for some years now. It would
be better to learn how to cooperate effectively than to wish that they would
go away. There will always be some level of divergence in a derivative,
even an official Debian subproject.
--
- mdz
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