Re: package ownership in Debian (was: Why does Ubuntu have all the ideas?)
On 7/28/06, martin f krafft <madduck@debian.org> wrote:
Please reply to -project only!
also sprach Matthew Garrett <mgarrett@chiark.greenend.org.uk> [2006.07.28.1737 +0100]:
> If Debian had slightly less of a culture of "Keep your hands off
> my package", I'd do it here instead.
I've been thinking about this a lot for the past week.
Is there any way this could be changed?
Does Debian *want* it changed?
I would like to see it, but with some comments:
Before Etch:
* Promote NMU LowThreshold wiki list giving it some official status.
The developer needs to be logged and mark if all his packages (where
he's listed as uploader) can be NMU'ed or not. He could add comments
like "I'm listed as uploader in foo but group x is the backup
uploader";
After Etch:
For NEW packages:
* Add in the new ITPs reports what group (alioth) is responsible for
your package too (eg: vte, pkg-gnome) or could act as "backup
uploader". The package doesn't need to be in the group's svn
repository, to give it some more flexibility. I think it should be the
development/upload case for a lot of packages;
* If the ITP is without the "backup uploader" means that any DD is
free to upload it. Almost no coordination to change or upload new
packages (upstream release, RC bugs, wishlist bugs) is needed. It
would be good if "Joe" ping the maintainer before upload, just to
avoid version conflicts, duplicated work and all that;
Note: Those that are upstream in project bar and uploads the package
for Debian just for its own use, might open RC bugs against the
package. The rationale is if you don't want that nobody uses your
stuff, touch your sacred upstream code, use it at home alone! :-)
For existing packages:
* The package that contains only the Maintainer field with the name of
a person and not a group can be uploaded by any DD. ping the current
maintainer is good but not required;
* If the package contains a group in the Maintainer field and/or a
group of people in the Maintainer field or Uploaders. It's required
that the uploader ping the group and coordinate his upload.
I think with something similar to what i wrote above we will end up
with almost all the packages maintained by groups and some packages
maintained by Debian as a whole and not individuals. The next step
would be groups allowing other groups to upload some of "their"
packages.
The core stuff will be more flexible and well maintained, if we don't
have groups where just one person do all the work and others are there
just to look cool.
regards,
-- stratus
Reply to: