Re: To adopt or not to adopt: smstools
On (18/11/06 01:05), Kapil Hari Paranjape wrote:
> Hello,
>
> On Fri, 17 Nov 2006, Patrick Schönfeld wrote:
> > Now i asked the maintainer of this package, if he lost time on this
> > project or something like that. He did not respond. But he seems to be
> > active otherwise and i know he might be busy because of the upcoming
> > release. But how to go on with this? I would happily package further
> > versions of smstools if someone let me. I even have packaged a current
> > version on-top of the original maintainers work. I've uploaded it to
> > mentors.d.o but i'm unsure if i should RFS because it *has* a
> > maintainer.
I think this is correct.
> > Maybe it would be an alternative to add a new package smstools3?
No I don't think this is the right approach in this case, and anyway
courtesy would dictate that the maintainer of smstools gets control over
smstools3 unless there was an exceptional reason.
> >
> > What do you think should i do?
>
> 1. If the new upload closes open bugs on the BTS then post the URL of
> your mentors.debian.net package to these bugs so that anyone coming
> across these bugs will know that a solution exists.
Good idea. It would also be good to upload a diff from the current
version of the package to yours so that it would be easy to incororate
your work. interdiff (patchutils I believe) or nmudiff (devscripts)
might be useful here.
>
> 2. Wait for the maintainer to respond. (Note that the maintainer will
> also get a copy of your reports to the BTS).
I'm afraid this is all you can do for now.
>
> 3. After a suitable amount of time you may want to contact
> debian-qa@lists.debian.org and/or mia@qa.debian.org if the maintainer
> still does not respond.
This is also a good idea. However you say that you know he is active in
other areas of the project, so mia@ isn't appropriate.
I would suggest you wait a while and then contact him again. If he still
doesn't respond after a few attempts then email debian-qa explaining the
problem and someone there might be able to help you out.
Note that it is also good courtesy to Cc: someone when you are talking
about them, particularly if you are suggesting that they might not be
doing the best job. It gives them a chance to see it and respond. The
cynical view would be that it was also the best way to get a response.
I appreciate how hard it is to want to contribute but be held back by
something, and I hope that you manage to get this sorted.
James
--
James Westby -- GPG Key ID: B577FE13 -- http://jameswestby.net/
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