Re: Assisting with NEW queue backlog (was: What is going wrong with NEW?)
Le Sat, Mar 07, 2009 at 11:25:16AM +0100, Wouter Verhelst a écrit :
> On Fri, Mar 06, 2009 at 11:12:58AM +0900, Charles Plessy wrote:
> > I do not know, maybe the core of the problem is not whether the packages are
> > available, but who takes the responsability to make them available : I think I
> > remember that it was asked and refused that they can be downloaded from the
> > ftp-master server.
>
> This will never happen, for legal reasons (unless you want us to set up
> a new non-US repository). Part of the requirements in doing the
> crypto-to-main transition was that uploaded packages would not be made
> available for download until some steps were taken first.
Hi Wouter,
Is there a written document somewhere that explains the issue to newcomers? I
still do not understand why Debian can redistribute any non-reviewed source
package through people.debian.org or vcs.debian.org, but would have legal
problems of letting persons read the incoming queue.
I think that the current workflow of letting a queue accumulate, putting
barriers to prevent people from helping, and purging the queue by batches of
hudreds is suboptimal and leads to errors due to repetitive work. For instance,
why has xsettings-kde been accepted ? Its copyright file says :
-----------------------
Upstream Author:
Frederic Crozat <fcrozat@mandriva.com>
Owen Taylor, Red Hat, Inc.
Copyright:
(c) 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Mandriva
Copyright © 2001 Red Hat, Inc.
License:
You are free to distribute this software under the terms of the GNU General
Public License Version 2. The full text of this license can be found in the
file /usr/share/common-licenses/GPL-2
-----------------------
Whereas its source files say either
/*
* Copyright © 2001 Red Hat, Inc.
*
* Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell this software and its
* documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided that
* the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that
* copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting
* documentation, and that the name of Red Hat not be used in advertising or
* publicity pertaining to distribution of the software without specific,
* written prior permission. Red Hat makes no representations about the
* suitability of this software for any purpose. It is provided "as is"
* without express or implied warranty.
*
* RED HAT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE, INCLUDING ALL
* IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS, IN NO EVENT SHALL RED HAT
* BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES
* WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION
* OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN
* CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
*
* Author: Owen Taylor, Red Hat, Inc.
*/
or
/*
* Copyright (c) 2001 Red Hat, Inc.
* (c) 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Mandriva
*
* Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell this software and its
* documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided that
* the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that
* copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting
* documentation, and that the name of Red Hat not be used in advertising or
* publicity pertaining to distribution of the software without specific,
* written prior permission. Red Hat makes no representations about the
* suitability of this software for any purpose. It is provided "as is"
* without express or implied warranty.
*
* RED HAT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE, INCLUDING ALL
* IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS, IN NO EVENT SHALL RED HAT
* BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES
* WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION
* OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN
* CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
*
* Authors: Owen Taylor, Red Hat, Inc.
* Frederic Crozat, Mandriva
*
*/
I am not exempt of errors either: in one of my recently accepted packages,
ssake, the copyright file was mentionning as upstream author a person who had
nothing to do with this program (probably a cut-and-paste error). This leads me
to think that many more errors are going unnoticed and therefore the
inconvenience of the current system is not worth the result.
Therefore, I really think that Debian needs a possibility for everybody to
consult the sources of the packages proposed for inclusion in our archive. It
can be done in a systematic manner or in a voluntary manner. As I wrote
earlier, I will for now adpopt the voluntary option. All my ITP bugs will
contain a link to the uploaded package, to make peer-review possible in
addition to batch review.
Have a nice day,
--
Charles Plessy
Tsurumi, Kanagawa, Japan
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