Re: Experiences of being an AM

[Brian Nelson <pyro@debian.org>]

Andreas Barth <aba@not.so.argh.org> writes:

> This question
> | O. What are maintainer scripts? What arguments does each get?
> |    What is the meaning of the arguments? What can each of them
> |    assume about the system?
> has received some (IMHO fair) critics that just more or less copying
> the specific policy section cannot be too useful. 

I tend to ignore answers to this question.  It basically results in a
dump of the policy section, and I have no idea what the, "What is the
meaning of the arguments? What can each of them assume about the
system?" questions are even looking for.

See also the questions about runlevels.

> So, I intend to change it to something like:
> | O. What are maintainer scripts? What are the major operation modes?
> |    What can each of them assume about the system? Where can you
> |    get more information about them?

I think it would be far more useful to give packaging scenarios where
the applicant needs to decide what script and which argument should be
used to deal with each scenario.  That way the applicant would have to
demonstrate that he or she understands what policy is actually saying
there.

In fact, I think this is generally a better approach than asking generic
questions like, "What is ___ and why is ___ useful?"  Anyone can read
and quote policy, but that doesn't necessarily demonstrate
understanding of policy.

-- 
You win again, gravity!