On Sat, 28 Jul 2012 09:48:25 +0000 Bart Martens <bartm@debian.org> wrote: > On Sat, Jul 28, 2012 at 11:41:24AM +0200, Jose Antonio wrote: > > * Imagine that I start to create a patch: How do I know that there is any > > maintainer developping a patch for the same bug? > > I don't know how you could know that. There are established protocols for that, well used in BSP's for a long time. 0: Join #debian-bugs in IRC irc.oftc.net 1: claim the bug number on that channel, describing what you are doing. Ask if anyone else wants to help or is interested in that package. 2: You can also claim the bug using the bts program from devscripts. 3: Write a reply to the bug, mentioning that you think you have some idea of what might be going on and that you're working on it. (i.e. by the time you think you know enough about the problem to create a patch, you should document the basic premise on the bug report so that everyone else knows that something might happen to help fix it.) Even if the patch isn't complete, *write something on the bug report* with as many details as you can provide. You don't have to solve every problem with the package. It's quite common for a package which fails to build from source to have one initial problem which then hides subsequent failures further in the build. If you can't fix the subsequent ones, just get the patch for the first one in the bug report. It will at least help someone else. For RC bugs during a freeze, as now, you really only want to fix the problem(s) directly related to the bug - it's not about making a complete tidy-up or fixing all lintian issues or anything except the bug. Keep the patch small and clean of generated output like autoconf changes and other noise. Overall, there are so many bugs and so few people working on them at any one time that if the bug report doesn't show someone already has some ideas for the fix, it's likely that nobody is actively working on it. Even if they are, your patch may show a different approach and is still worthwhile. > > * If I create a bug: Do I have to sign it before sending it to the DM or DD > > that maintain the package? And if so, my key is not in keyring.debian.org, > > is there a problem? > > Anyone can report a bug without signature. Signatures and keyring.debian.org only relate to uploads. Creating the patch is a large part of the work - don't stress if you can't upload, just create the patch and feed it back to the bug report. There are separate mechanisms for sponsoring the upload or you can just let someone else turn your patch into an upload. That can only happen if you put the patch into the bug report, so concentrate on that step. -- Neil Williams ============= http://www.linux.codehelp.co.uk/
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