communication (was Re: Bug#350088: Forcibly orphaning mhash?

[Nathanael Nerode <neroden@twcny.rr.com>]

Chris Hanson wrote:
> Nathanael Nerode wrote:
>> As discussed in this bug, mhash's maintainer appears to be MIA or out to lunch.
>>
>> Is it OK if we forcibly orphan the package now?
> 
> What exactly do you want me to do?
The classic thing to do is to send a note to the bug trail saying one of
"I sent the fix upstream and will wait for them to fix it"
"I need help finding out whether this patch works"
"This patch doesn't work"
"I don't have time to deal with this, NMUs please"

Within three months or so of the bug being opened.  Or at least after
someone has sent a message to the bug trail saying "Since the mhash
maintainer seems to be inactive..."

I don't think this is an unreasonable requirement.  Just a *little* bit
of communication every so often.

In particular, since many maintainers can be quite snippy about NMUs,
requesting them explicitly is the best way to get other people to
maintain your package when you're too busy to.

> I released a new version recently,
> and as far as I can tell there's no consensus on whether the suggested
> fixes actually work.  Plus, the upstream sources don't seem to be
> generally accessible now,
Yeesh.  That sucks.

 so it's hard to tell what's going on there.
> 
> So I continue to wait for something useful to happen.
> 
> Plus, I've been teaching a new class this term and consequently have
> very little time.  But the term's almost over.
> 
> Do you have any specific suggestion as to what should happen?

Well, fixing the bug was lovely, of course!  :-)

But my specific suggestion is not that.  It's simply to communicate to
the bug trail every so often.  When I spot bugs with no maintainer
comment which have been open for more than three months, I quite rightly
suspect a maintainer who's not paying attention.  All you have to do to
dispel that suspicion is to send a short note to the bug trail (and
preferably to the submitter as well) explaining why it's taking so long.

Frankly, "I probably won't be able to deal with this until May, so if
anyone else wants to, please do," is a *great* maintainer response.