Freeze Exceptions for libti*, TiLP, GFM and TilEm
Hello,
I should've done this earlier, but better late than never, right?
(I was under the impression that the packages must enter unstable
before considering any wheezy/testing exceptions.)
I would like to ask for a freeze exception for the following packages:
* libticonv
* libticables
* libtifiles
* libticalcs
* tilp2
* gfm
I would also like to ask for an exception for a NEW package, tilem.
Justifications for an exception:
Currently, these packages are 5 years old, and 5 years of development
have fixed many stability issues. The current maintainer has abandoned
the packages. The packages in their current state are very much
unusable, and need a much-needed update. Furthermore, they require
much needed updates to the package format.
A few these packages (namely, libti*, though the exact ones isn't sure
yet) have significant debian/copyright mistakes, and the others need
to get new copyright info and have an update to the new DEP5 format.
These packages do not interfere with the system in any way. The only
package that may touch core system packages is libticables, which
installs a udev rule that upstream provides, and which has been tested
to work by many users, and is only limited to the TI calculators.
There is significant community demand for an update to these packages.
Upstream has gone as far as to provide an automated build script to
help Debian/Ubuntu users build from SVN due to the lack of updates
from the repositories.
For NEW package TilEm: there is quite a bit of community demand for a
TI Z80 calculator emulator for Debian (and Ubuntu).
Specific justifications for an exception:
libticonv:
* Fixes #686635 and #678872. The former is a copyright bug that has
been fixed by a NMU, which provides a partial fix that is remedied by
my update. #678872 is an ITA.
* Fixes a few buffer overflows - I unfortunately can't be specific
about this, but I'd be happy to provide contact info and/or CC
upstream on this. This is a charset conversion library, so those kind
of problems are bound to occur.
libticables:
* This one fixes a LOT of bugs: #589752, #596601, #616731, #641092,
#664405, #678828 I'll explain them below.
FTBFS issues on sparc64 and s390x are fixed in upstream and in latest
package update. (#596601, #641092)
* libticables uses a rather old (and deprecated) udev rule format.
This is updated to a working format compatible with the current udev
package. (related to #589752)
* Updates to packaging format to 3.0. (#664405)
* Upstream fix. (#616731)
* ITA. (#678828)
libtifiles:
* This one doesn't fix many important bugs - both are ITAs: #678835, #678837
* Again, some security fixes - upstream can help clarify.
* Stability fixes with handing files - important for packages like
libticalcs:
* This one doesn't fix many important bugs - it's just an ITA: #678871
* Significant stability fixes are provided in the update, as well as
a few security fixes. Upstream can clarify.
tilp2:
* Again, an ITA: #678059
* Again, significant stability fixes are provided in the update, as
well as a few security fixes. Upstream can clarify. These fixes are
important for user experience, as there are crashes when sending files
to the calculator.
gfm:
* ITA: #678869
* Again, significant stability fixes are provided in the update, as
well as a few security fixes. Upstream can clarify. These fixes are
important for user experience.
tilem:
* ITP: #678829
* Community demand
I believe that these packages are very beneficial for the
Debian/Ubuntu/Mint TI Linux community, and have significant demand. I
also believe that these packages should not (and will not) affect the
system in any way (other than the udev rule).
These packages are dependent on each other, as well as another package
not listed here (tiemu). If necessary, these packages will be staged
in experimental first before getting pushed to unstable. As for that
package, I have an ITA for it. If you allow me to just do a dependency
change on it (no updates to the format or copyright), then that should
work out the only other dependency problem.
I've pasted the links of all of the debdiffs for the packages.
libticonv is the only package that may be considered "ready" for
uploading; the rest are undergoing last minute polish. Nevertheless,
all of them are provided for reference.
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1016340/debdiff/libticonv_1.1.0-1.1_1.1.3-1.diff
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1016340/debdiff/libticables_1.2.0-2_1.3.3+ds1-1.diff
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1016340/debdiff/libtifiles_1.1.1-1_1.1.5-1.diff
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1016340/debdiff/libticalcs_1.1.3+dfsg1-1_1.1.7+dfsg1-1.diff
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1016340/debdiff/tilp2_1.12-1_1.16+ds1-1.diff
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1016340/debdiff/gfm_1.03-2_1.06-1.diff
As for tilem, the source package may be found here:
http://mentors.debian.net/debian/pool/main/t/tilem/tilem_2.0-1.dsc
The rest of the packages in their original form may be found at my mentors page:
http://mentors.debian.net/packages/uploader/alberth.debian@gmail.com
Please consider granting freeze exceptions for these packages!
Thanks!
Albert
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