Minutes from "Getting your packages into Debian"
Hi all;
Here are the minutes from the (apparently) annual "mentors-bof", thanks
to Didier Raboud for taking them. It turned into a bit more of a
tutorial session than last year, which I don't think is necessarily a
bad thing. I also attach the LaTeX source for the slides; a pdf is
available (somewhere) on penta.debconf.org.
===========================
QUOTE: Bremner: Gobby is not emacs, it's so sad.
Some statistics:
* 18790 packages are in Sid, amongst which 3036 are non-NMU sponsored
packages. If you use Debian, you are probably needing one of those;
you probably rely on any of them. 946 active DDs, 178 DMs, 906
sponsored people.
OPINION: Bremner: There's a high barrier to be able to upload packages
without a key in the /magic keyring/.
OPINION: Bremner: Know packaging, love packaging, do packaging. This
amount of work is the tiny part of getting packages sponsored.
Bremner: sponsoring as a source for new contributors, not only about new
packages; most of actual DDs have come to Debian trough getting packages
sponsored, this shouldn't be underestimated as a source of future DDs.
Bremner: There are DDs that sponsor, others that don't, various reasons
undermine this.
== The big picture ==
There is sort-of a "command-line" shock: debian-mentors{.*} is not
anywhere close to Launchpad™.
The Mighty Steps to Getting My Package Uploaded:
* Prepare (Close your browser, open a terminal, GAAAAh !? )
* ITP (for new packages, reportbug wnpp)
* go package (get help from #debian-mentors, feedback on your
ITP [probably not positive].
* upload (well, sort-of) to mentors.debian.net : Upload, QA check, …
* File a "Request For Sponsoring" (RFS) against sponsorship-requests. \o/ BTS fun
* Wait, Revise, Wait, Revise, More Wait. This time the feedback is most probably positive.
* Your Package Gets Uploaded™ (or not…)
== "What packages belong in Debian ?" ==
It recently came as a surprise to some that "someone wants a new package
to Debian but it might very well be that `Debian doesn't want it`…"
ITP serves three roles:
* Sanity check incoming packages
* First contact of new contributions with the Debian community
* Mutex to avoid multiple people working on the same
thing. (less important in sponsoring context)
The perception of ITP depends on the side: the filer says "here's the
work I did, I propose it to Debian", while "debian-devel" (if that
exists) understands it as "here's a new package `Debian` will have to
maintain.
Closing RFS's is another (fairly rarely used) feedback mechanism: make
sure feedback is given out soon enough.
== Tracking sponsorship requests in the BTS ==
After this experiment started, there has been been a lot more noise on
the mailing list, but is planned to be improved.
* 28 RC bugs fixed, 172 updates, 69? new packages; quite a successful
experiment.
== Discussion ==
Q: Bottleneck in those steps ^ ? A: Not enough sponsors.
I: Teams are not an administrative barrier, they are probably a resource.
Q: Maybe we are not communicating / enforcing the needed commitment for
new packages: in fact, the lifetime of a package is in measured in
multiple years (unstable->testing->stable->security-> …).
I: Removal of packages doesn't only carry a /technical/ cost, it does
carry a human cost too (users, …).
Q: Do the packages need to be in english? A: Not necessarily, but
description and copyright probably need both for sponsors and
FTP-Masters team.
\documentclass[presentation]{beamer}
\usetheme{default}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
%\usepackage{fixltx2e}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{longtable}
\usepackage{float}
\usepackage{wrapfig}
\usepackage{soul}
\usepackage{textcomp}
\usepackage{marvosym}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{latexsym}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{hyperref}
\AtBeginSection[]
{
\begin{frame}<beamer>
\tableofcontents[currentsection]
\end{frame}
}
\tolerance=1000
\providecommand{\alert}[1]{\textbf{#1}}
\newcommand{\notes}[1]{\par\vfill\small\textbf{Notes:} #1}
\newcommand{\recipebutton}[1]{\hyperlink{#1}{\beamergotobutton{#1}}\hypertarget{back:#1}{}}
\newcommand{\recipe}[1]{\hypertarget{#1}{}\hyperlink{back:#1}{\beamerreturnbutton{back}}}
\title{Getting your packages into Debian}
\author{David Bremner}
\titlegraphic{based on notes by Asheesh Laroia, Arno Töll,
and Nicolas Dandrimont, shameless cribbing from mailing lists, and stuff I just made up}
\date{9 July 2012}
\usecolortheme{rose}
\begin{document}
\begin{frame}
\maketitle
\end{frame}
\begin{frame}
\frametitle{This is not a lecture}
\begin{block}<+->{What's it about?}
Getting packages \emph{sponsored}, i.e uploaded Debian for people
without keys in the uploading keyring.
\end{block}
\begin{block}<+->{What's the plan?} I have some slides to fill the
awkward silences. It would be great if I \emph{fail} to make it to
the end of my slides, because we find more interesting things to
talk about.
\end{block}
\begin{block}<+->{How to help with notes/minutes}
\texttt{apt-get install gobby \# gobby-infinote pre-wheezy } \\
\texttt{gobby -c gobby.debian.org \# gobby-0.5 pre-wheezy}\\
\texttt{debconf12/bof/packages-into-debian}
\end{block}
\end{frame}
\begin{frame}
\frametitle{Context}
\begin{block}<+->{Packages in Sid}
\begin{tabular}{rl}
Total source packages: & 18790\\
Sponsored source packages including NMUs: & 3141\\
Sponsored source packages excluding NMUs: & 3036
\end{tabular}
\end{block}
\begin{block}<+->{Packagers}
\begin{tabular}{rl}
Total active DDs: & 946 \\
Total DMs in keyring: & 178 \\
Total sponsored people: & 906
\end{tabular}
\end{block}
\begin{block}<+->{In the room?}
\begin{itemize}
\item How many (potential) sponsorees?
\item How many sponsors?
\end{itemize}
\end{block}
\notes{Thanks to Stuart Prescott \url{<jr6344$lkp$1@dough.gmane.org>}}
\end{frame}
\begin{frame}
\frametitle{Uploading: Big Picture}
\begin{description}
\item<+->[Prepare] Close your browser, open a terminal. Yes, I know it's a shock, but we like it.
\item<+->[ITP] For new packages. \texttt{reportbug wnpp}
\item<+->[go package] Get help from \#debian-mentors. Possibly feedback from ITP, probably not positive.
\item<+->[mentors.debian.net] Upload, qa checks.
\item<+->[RFS] Now with BTS fun
\item<+->[Wait/Revise] Typically lots of packaging help on debian-mentors list
\item<+->[Uploaded] or not.
\end{description}
\end{frame}
\begin{frame}
\frametitle{What packages belong in Debian?}
\begin{itemize}[<+->]
\item ITPs serve two (somewhat conflicting) roles
\begin{itemize}
\item Sanity check incoming packages
\item First contact of new contributors with the Debian community.
\end{itemize}
\item Recent discussion about the broader question of what kind of
filtering of incoming packages is appropriate:
\url{<20120628144210.GJ14680@sliepen.org>}
\item Closing RFS's is another (fairly rarely used) feedback mechanism
\end{itemize}
\end{frame}
\begin{frame}
\frametitle{Tracking sponsorship requests in the BTS}
\begin{block}<+->{HowTo}
\begin{itemize}
\item \texttt{reportbug sponsorship-requests}
\item Severity:
\begin{description}
\item[important] RC bug fixes
\item[normal] updates of existing packages
\item[wishlist] new packages
\end{description}
\end{itemize}
\end{block}
\begin{block}<+->{After 6 months}
\begin{tabular}{rccc}
Type & Outstanding & Uploaded & closed \\
RC fixes & 1 & 28 \\
Updates & 44 & 172\\
New packages & 83 & 69? & 5?
\end{tabular}
\end{block}
\notes{Yes, most of us hate control messages on the list too. This should be improved soon.}
\end{frame}
\begin{frame}
\frametitle{mentors.debian.net: The present}
\begin{itemize}[<+->]
\item New software \url{git://anonscm.debian.org/debexpo/debexpo.git}
\item Active maintenance team: Led by Arno T\"oll and Nicolas
Dandrimont, with contributions by 15 others in the past year.
\item Written in python and pylons, looking for more contributors.
\item Has all features of old mentors.debian.net
\item Runs a set of QA checks
\item Packages are removed on upload to unstable.
\end{itemize}
\end{frame}
\begin{frame}
\frametitle{mentors.debian.net: The future}
\begin{block}<+->{GSOC: Clément Schreiner}
\begin{itemize}
\item Analysis of packages uploaded to debexpo using, among others, debtags heuristics
\item writing automatic package $\leftrightarrow$ prospective sponsor matching heuristics
\end{itemize}
\end{block}
\begin{block}<+->{GSOC: Baptiste Mouterde}
\begin{itemize}
\item Integration of the sponsorship-requests pseudo-package into Debexpo
\item On-line Code browser with inline commenting
\item Two-way interaction with the debian-mentors mailing list
\item Integrate team-specific sponsoring
\end{itemize}
\end{block}
\end{frame}
\begin{frame}
\frametitle{mentors.debian.org?}
\begin{itemize}
\item stalled before because of distributability questions
\item a solution involving some safe harbour (DMCA?) is
currently being investigated with SPI lawyers.
\end{itemize}
\end{frame}
\end{document}
\notes{%
\begin{itemize}
\item Requested by Ansgar,
\url{<8739be9ej1.fsf@deep-thought.43-1.org>}
\item Becoming a \texttt{.debian.org} service
\url{<4F1802EF.7050001@toell.net>}
\end{itemize}
}
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