Re: Bits from ftp-team (aka: Don't upload RC fixes to NEW queue)
On 28/10/10 at 14:35 +0200, Alexander Reichle-Schmehl wrote:
> Hi!
>
> One of the side effects of the freeze [1] of our upcoming stable release -
> squeeze - is that not all tasks get done as quickly as you might be used to in
> the past. For example, work on things that are not entirely release critical,
> like processing the NEW queue [2], are not the highest priority currently. One
> of the reasons is that NEW packages processed now won't end up in the release
> anyway, so there's no need to hurry. This of course frees up some time for
> other tasks.
Hi,
I must admit that I'm not too happy about that.
Despite the freeze, I think that it is important that we continue to
support our users usually running testing/unstable, or
unstable/experimental during the freeze.
Also, telling some of our derivatives to "do work in Debian first" is
pointless if, during large periods of time, they need to severely
change their processes because of our freezes.
Additionally, while old timers tend to get used to long delays in
Debian, it is quite frustrating for newcomers to have to wait for
several weeks/months before their first package gets in Debian.
Finally, as DDs, we sometimes have a responsibility towards our upstreams:
if an upstream says "could you upload that new RC release to Debian
experimental so we can see if the porting issues were correctly fixed?",
it's a bit annoying to have to take long NEW delays into account.
So I really think that long delays in NEW processing[1] are annoying and
harmful, whether we are in freeze or not, and that the fact that NEW
packages being processed won't end up in squeeze is not really a good
reason for not processing them.
> This also means that we might not notice a package fixing RC bugs in the NEW
> queue.
I would have loved to say that UDD already can give you a list of
packages in NEW fixing RC bugs, but unfortunately, there's a small bug
in the way the NEW status is imported that prevents that.
> 3: As a reminder: Packages will go through the NEW queue if they add new
> binary or source overrides. Ex: New binary packages split away, package
> renames, etc.
AFAIK, the main reason for NEW processing is the legal verification.
For new binary packages, legal verifications are out of the picture,
so couldn't you use the information provided by the maintainer in the
control files, accept the package immediately, and do verification a
posteriori ?
- Lucas
[1] http://heracles.corsac.net/~corsac/debian/new/
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