Hi Andreas, On Mon, Apr 16, 2018 at 09:43:10AM +0200, Andreas Tille wrote: > I remember that this discussion comes up quite regularly (no statistic > but to my feeling once a year). I'd love if we could give fix rules to > the process of salvaging a package (or am I missing that this was just > done). I think the preconditions should contain something like: > ( > * RC buggy (mandatory feature for salvaging a package) > or > * No uploads for > 365 days *and* lagging behind upstream > ) No opinion on the specific numbers here. > and > * Public attempt to contact the former maintainer (be it as > response to the RC bug or for instance CCed to debian-devel > list) +1, absolutely a requirement that the salvage process includes cc:ing the existing maintainer on a public post, making clear the poster's intent to take over the package and the rationale (debian-qa@lists exists for this). > It should be also mandatory that the salvaged package gets Vcs-fields > pointing to salsa.debian.org to enable any interested person to > contribute. No, it should not be mandatory. > The former Maintainer may not be removed from d/control. Absolutely, emphatically, NO. One of the few benefits package maintainers receive from their package maintenance work is their reputation. While a package in line for salvaging is probably not doing anything to benefit the maintainer's reputation, any impact on the maintainer's reputation is still under their control. By leaving the previous maintainer in debian/control, you are causing that maintainer to be associated, without their consent, with whatever packaging changes the "salvager" is making. It may be good, it may be bad, it doesn't matter - what matters is that they have not given their consent, and it is wrong to list them as a "maintainer" in an arrangement they have not consented to. If you want them to remain listed as the maintainer, there's a process for that already - non-maintainer uploads. People can do as many of those as they want. Or, they can go through a salvage process which is honest about the reality - the previous maintainer is no longer doing the work, and the community has handed the package over to someone else who is willing to do the work. But it's just wrong to pretend that a package is "team" maintained without the consent of one of the members of the "team". -- Steve Langasek Give me a lever long enough and a Free OS Debian Developer to set it on, and I can move the world. Ubuntu Developer http://www.debian.org/ slangasek@ubuntu.com vorlon@debian.org
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