Bug#512360: RFH: openldap -- OpenLDAP server, libraries, and utilities
Package: wnpp
Severity: normal
The OpenLDAP packaging for Debian could use additional resources. No one
on the current OpenLDAP maintenance team has very much time to work on
the package, and we're having difficulty keeping up with both the bug
queue and with upstream releases and fixes. Given that this is a fairly
critical package supplying both the LDAP libraries for many programs in
Debian and the LDAP server used by other Debian projects, this is not a
good situation.
We particularly need help with:
* Triaging Debian bugs, filing them upstream where needed, and helping
test and incorporate upstream fixes. Upstream is very active and
responsive, but expects careful attention to the existing documentation
and separation of OpenLDAP bugs from bugs in Debian's build,
configuration, or any local modifications.
* Triage of TLS issues. For licensing reasons, Debian builds OpenLDAP
with GnuTLS instead of OpenSSL, which is unusual in the broader
OpenLDAP community. A lot of the open bugs are about TLS interoperability
issues, which need to be analyzed and reported against either GnuTLS or
upstream if they're problems with OpenLDAP's interface to GnuTLS. GnuTLS
upstream is very responsive and good about helping with this if the bug
can be reproduced.
* Work on slapd configuration and maintenance. Upstream is converting to
cn=config (an LDIF configuration backend) and away from slapd.conf and
the Debian packages should do likewise. This will require extensive
testing during the squeeze release cycle.
* Testing, particularly of the server. Help from someone who runs the
Debian slapd packages in production with a fairly large directory, or
who can do so at least for testing, would be very welcome.
The upstream OpenLDAP team has had many bad experiences with distribution
packagers doing a poor job of supporting OpenLDAP packages and the
OpenLDAP project doesn't support old versions of OpenLDAP, so it's
important to carefully distinguish between Debian problems (including
those related to having an old version in stable) and upstream OpenLDAP
problems. Having a thick skin and a willingness to work through conflicts
is very helpful.
OpenLDAP is maintained via an Alioth Subversion repository and mailing
list. If you're willing to help, please join the mailing list via:
http://lists.alioth.debian.org/mailman/listinfo/pkg-openldap-devel
and let us know what you can work on. Bug triage is a great place to
start.
-- System Information:
Debian Release: 5.0
APT prefers testing
APT policy: (990, 'testing'), (500, 'unstable'), (1, 'experimental')
Architecture: i386 (i686)
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