* Evan Broder <[email protected]>: > On Mon, Sep 19, 2011 at 10:35 AM, Bryce Harrington <[email protected]> > wrote: > > On Mon, Sep 19, 2011 at 12:28:03PM +0200, Daniel Holbach wrote: > >> > >> The feedback I've got lately about getting new packages into Ubuntu is > >> that it's still quite complicated and you need unreal amounts of > >> patience to get your package in.
Yes. > >> There's a number of different approaches you can take currently: > >> > >> - get it into Debian, sync from there > >> > >> Is there anything we can do to speed up the process and make it more > >> obvious how to proceed? I'm trying to be a good citizen and get a new package in via Debian, and it has taken me quite a while. To be fair, part of the problem is that I haven't had the time away from $DAYJOB to apply as much effort as I'd like. I did manage to get good feedback about my python module from both debian-mentors mailing list and #debian-python. It's partly a matter of finding time to address comments; partly that Packaging Is Hard, even for someone who kinda knows what they're doing. For instance, I've been modifying existing packages in Ubuntu for a while now, and am comfortable with most patch systems and am somewhat familiar with policy. But packaging something brand new involves jumping over higher (occasionally unexpected) hurdles than simply getting a debdiff sponsored. This is because the sponsor not only needs to review the entire packaging (not just a diff), but also the source code to make sure you're not uploading a new trojan to millions of machines where you'll have root. These are facts I've learned throughout my process, and when explained this way, make perfect sense. I'm not sure how this can be sped up. > Can we work with Debian to make their mentorship process better > (I know they've already been doing a bunch of work with things > like mentors.debian.net, though I don't know how well it's > working), and then make sure we have good documentation on the > process? Yeah, so I just blundered into mentors.debian.net and debexpo as part of my google search on "how to get a package into debian". On a mechanical level, the dput process is great; the same as I use for Ubuntu. The harder problem is then finding a reviewer and sponsor. The docs suggest emailing debian-mentors, but could be improved by mentioning that you should cc a relevant team. Now that I've been on d-m for a few weeks, I see some people get quite rapid reviews and rapid sponsorship. I also see other people who are sending out their 3rd and 4th RFS without any visible help. For myself, I got good review comments from someone very knowledgeable which I appreciated, but when I asked about sponsorship, he said he wasn't able (or willing, unsure, really). No one else stepped up to review or sponsor my package. I have resorted to asking a DD that I know in Real Life(tm) to sponsoring my package; he agreed to the actual sponsorship, and now the ball is in my court to address his further review comments. The worst part of the process is that sending a blind mail to debian-mentors is an action to which it is indeterminate whether you receive a response or not. I don't know what we could do in Ubuntu to make the Debian mentorship process better, other than helping review packages on d-m, and potentially uploading packages if you are a DD (or have other upload rights). /ac -- ubuntu-devel mailing list [email protected] Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-devel
