Source: bcachefs-tools Version: 24+really1.3.4-2 Severity: serious I don't think bcachefs-tools in its current state is fit for release.
* The package is severely behind: Debian is currently at 1.3.4. Upstream is at 1.6.4. * Chronologically speaking, 1.3.4 was released in November 2023, so in theory, it's not that old. In practice, however, bcachefs is a fast-moving project, and in particular the past few months have been critical both in terms of pace, and in terms of stabilization: bcachefs was merged in the upstream Linux kernel, starting with v6.7, released in January 2024. Linux 6.8 was released this week as well, with even more fixes, including the ability to use the in-kernel fsck. * Linux v6.7 entered unstable this week, which opens up the user base for this package quite a bit. Especially with the recent hype, others may be inclined to try it, and be surprised by back-and-forth metadata migrations between kernel and userspace, as a concrete example of a problem. * Moreover, even the outdated version that we have in Debian is crippled, because large parts of its functionality are missing: all the Rust functionality included in this software, which is ever increasing (up to being required, in newer upstream releases). This has been reported previously as #1060256. * I'd also argue that the package lacks attentive maintainership, and would recommend to orphan and/or find one or more comaintainers: - There are various packaging issues: wrong version number, branches not pushed into git etc. etc. (most reported as #1054620) - There hasn't been any coordination/two-way street with upstream; I contributed a bunch of PRs to help with the Rust integration bits in Debian, and I know Steinar was in touch with them as well, but none of this was done by the package maintainer or in coordination with them. - No serious effort was made to package the Rust bits before. I worked on it and made it happen with only a few hours of work, as documented in that bug report above. - There hasn't been any coordinated system integration effort with other Debian packages like grub/initramfs-tools/etc. #1061525 describes issues that are across projects and up for us, the distributor, to really triage and coordinate fixes for. - Finally, while a bunch of work happened by others, like myself paving the road for the Rust bits to be enabled, and by Steinar to prepare fixed packages (and even an NMU), there hasn't been an appropriate level of response to our contributions IMHO, that would have included in an upload that includes all of these fixes. We are basically blocked. Now, I realize that the maintainer may be quite busy with other tasks, including what I can only image is a busy Debian workload due to some other, erm, duties (for which I'm thankful!). In an effort to be more collegial, I've even reached out in private, twice. But, I think we are at the point where weeks pass while the state of this package is simply not OK, a disservice to our users, and unfit for release, hence this RC bug. This is a filesystem we're talking about, so outdated/buggy software can even mean broader system-wide issues including data corruption. In terms of a path forward: I would recommend to upload the package as prepared by Steinar ASAP, and/or submit an RFH/O for the long-term maintainership of the package. Best, Faidon