On Sat, 03 Feb 2007 14:04:49 -0600
Ryan Hill <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Kevin F. Quinn wrote:
> >> It would but having some kind of deadline after which you are for
> >> example free to take over the package if you want to would be nice.
> > 
> > That's going too far; there's certainly no need to take over a
> > package just to get a fix in.  If you want to take over a package,
> > asking the current maintainer has to be the first step, not to
> > quietly wait for a timeout then just grab it.  Similarly asking the
> > current maintainer if they mind you putting a fix in.
> 
> That's of course a given.  I think the question here relates to
> non-responsive maintainers or herds.

Well, this thread didn't start with MIA devs (which is what you're
talking about), it started with devs being too slow to take action.

I wouldn't have a standard timeout (far too regulatory) - just apply
common sense and do what needs to be done.

> I have been in the situation
> many many times with gcc-porting where I file a bug with a simple
> patch (say removing extra qualification) to get a package to build
> with GCC 4.1, and get no response for months from the maintainer
> despite multiple pings.  In that case, i'll apply the fix myself. I
> always try to wait a month or more before going ahead and always ping
> at least once.  So far i've not received any major complaints, but
> i'm just waiting for the day someone will get territorial about their
> packages and decide rip me a new one.  It'd be nice to have some kind
> of asshole insurance.

Well, my experience so far has been that provided you fix stuff
decently (both technically and politically ;) ), people don't mind
Maintainers can always tweak later if they prefer a different
solution.  If things get antsy, there's always devrel to mediate.

One obvious point, is to check a dev's away status if they're not
responding, before diving in.

> This also affects things like treecleaners.  How long does a herd team
> or maintainer have to be unresponsive to warrant the package falling
> into maintainer-needed?  Right now the most common way we find these
> packages is when Jakub gets annoyed enough with the accumulating bugs
> and lack of response to CC us. ;P
> 
> I personally think that for bug fixes a month is a long enough wait to
> allow someone to respond.  Keep in mind that's to respond, not to fix
> the bug.  A simple "yep, i'll get to this later" is enough.

-- 
Kevin F. Quinn

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