Bug#593611: Clarify whose signature should go in debian/changelog (4.4)
On Mon, Mar 03, 2014 at 01:43:10PM +0000, Dimitri John Ledkov wrote:
> The proposed wording matches what I have done multiple times in the
> past, and subsequently got condemned for.
>
> E.g. i've looked at the bug that affected me, and there was a debdiff
> prepared by person X, with .1 nmu version number, targetting unstable,
> name and date.
> I took that patch, applied as is, debsigned it and uploaded into the
> archive, without modifying debian/changelog in any way.
> ( I am not the usual maintainer/uploader of the package in question,
> thus i have "sponsored an NMU" )
In that case, applying the patch is 'preparing the release'. Thus
you should have changed the changelog to add you email and the date,
and crediting the patch author.
> After doing so, i've received multiple strongly worded emails, and
> harsh pings on IRC from unrelated (non-usual maintainer/uploader) and
> related (non-usual maintainer/uploader) to the package people, as well
> as the person X who prepared the debdiff ("but i didn't ask for it to
> be uploaded" [*])
>
> [*] imho preparing an NMU debdiff _is_ asking for it to be uploaded...
I have to disagree with this particular. I usually sent patches in the
NMU debdiff format because it provides versioning. While this is a
request for the change to be uploaded in a maintainer release, this is
quite different from a request for a sponsored NMU. To start with, I
am a DD so I do not need a sponsor, and if I needed a sponsor, I would
use another medium than the bug list of a supposedly inactive maintainer.
Performing an NMU requires to follow a process. The changelog should
document who takes responsibility for this.
I am quite sure you did it from a good intention, but in my view, you should
only do a sponsored upload when
- the sponsoree provided a full source package (not just a patch)
- the sponsoree explicitly asked for the upload to be performed.
But we are drifting in developers reference territories.
Cheers,
--
Bill. <ballombe@debian.org>
Imagine a large red swirl here.
Reply to: