Re: [SUMMARY/PROPOSAL] Orphaning another maintainer's packages
Michael Gilbert <mgilbert@debian.org> writes:
> Again, I think it comes down to language. If we view salvaging as a
> process that is initially meant to help the existing maintainer, then it
> makes sense to continue to work with the package as he/she intended.
> When the 3 month clock expires, and the salvager becomes an uploader,
> then any change becomes allowable. It may be that some salvagers will
> start out with some more minor work for the 3 months before becoming an
> uploader and jumping to a new upstream and at the same time they change
> packaging style, but then again some may want bump upstreams right away,
> and this process makes it possible for the person actually doing the
> work to decide their own fate. I think autonomy is incredibly
> important.
I certainly have no objection to people doing this, but I'm not sure
that's really what we're discussing here. I think the thread is more
about the ongoing issue that we seem to have in Debian where the existing
procedure for orphaning packages is perceived as too heavy-weight and we
believe that there are packages that aren't being cared for, aren't
orphaned, and that someone else would work on if the status were clearer.
(I'm not entirely convinced that this is as common as people think; I
think a lot of the largely unmaintained packages are in that state because
no one else is really motivated to do anything with them either. But it's
certainly the case that the existing process for orphaning feels murky,
ill-defined, and open-ended, which is going to tend to scare away people
who want to be helpful but who don't want to subject someone else to what
can be perceived as a sanction and who don't want to create conflict.)
The process you describe sounds more appropriate for a situation like the
WINE packages were in, where the existing maintainer was overwhelmed but
still wanted to stay deeply involved in the packaging.
--
Russ Allbery (rra@debian.org) <http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/>
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