Re: Overall bitrot, package reviews and fast(er) unmaintained package removals
Felipe Sateler <fsateler@debian.org> writes:
> On Thu, 07 Apr 2016 10:34:24 +1000, Brian May wrote:
>> In the past I have maintained some important packages by doing regular
>> NMUs when the maintainer is not responsive (including emails asking to
>> take over the package). So just because the *maintainer* hasn't made an
>> upload in a long time doesn't mean that nobody cares about the package.
> It means the maintainer doesn't care. The name placed in the Maintainer
> and Uploader fields is not meaningless metadata, it is an important part
> of the package.
No, it *doesn't* mean that the maintainer doesn't care. It means that the
maintainer is unwilling or unable to respond to email or upload their
package. That is not at all the same thing.
I'm quite supportive of making it easier for people to adopt packages in
this situation, but please don't say that the maintainer doesn't care, or
encourage people to talk about it that way. Among (many) other reasons,
it keeps us all from looking and feeling like assholes when it turns out
that the maintainer was in the hospital deathly ill for several months
(for example).
We can address issues of packaging health without getting into the very
risky business of reading other people's minds.
--
Russ Allbery (rra@debian.org) <http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/>
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