font policy - maintainerless program
I have been getting ready to release a font plus sources and auxiliary
programs for Debian. The Policy Manual requires using the
update-fonts-dir script when installing a font.
I was going to post a change to the update-fonts-dir script (so it
wouldn't complain that /usr/lib/X11/fonts doesn't exist -- that
directory is no longer part of a Debian release), and post a change to
the man page (to mention that -7 and --x11r7-layout options are now
no-ops present for historical reasons). I had found this out earlier
posting on debian-devel. The warning about a missing directory in
particular would give a user the impression that something could be
wrong with the system when in fact everything is fine.
Unfortunately, the BTS says that the package has no current
maintainer, and asks that bugs not be filed against it.
Is there another way we're supposed to post patches for a package with
no maintainer? I don't have time to adopt it.
Alternatively, since the package is no longer maintained, can I ignore
that part of the Debian Policy Manual for a font, and just invoke
mkfontdir directly rather than update-fonts-dir? mkfontdir works
perfectly, and update-fonts-dir just calls mkfontdir after some
pre-processing.
If so, can the requirement to use a maintainerless package
(update-fonts-dir) be removed from the Debian Policy Manual? (I would
prefer that option as long as the font could someday leave unstable.)
This is my first Debian package and this detail is a stumbling block.
Thanks for any advice.
I can also write a proposed update to the Policy Manual font section
to cover TrueType fonts if it will be considered, unless someone else
is working on that.
Paul Hardy
unifoundry@unifoundry.com
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