Applicability of DebianMaintainerField spec to packages not sourced from Debian

[Emmet Hikory]

    There have been recent discussions of whether the
DebainMaintainerField spec (0) applied for new packages uploaded to
REVU or sourced from other (non-Debian) repositories, and how the
Maintainer field should be managed when there is no Debian maintainer.

    The spec says, in part "If a source package is modified relative
to Debian [...], its Maintainer field should be updated...", which
appears to cover all cases where the relevant Debian poll (1) applies,
and meet Ubuntu's obligations with regard to Debian, but does not
specify the action undertaken where the package is not sourced from
Debian.  Separately, the spec provides compliance tests, with the
statement that the output of the provided (now outdated) shell
fragments "should be empty".

    This latter statement, combined with the use of pkgbinarymangler
as part of the standard build process leads me to believe that
MaintainerField adjustments are intended to apply to all packages
distributed by Ubuntu, rather than only packages sourced from Debian.

    I'd like to propose the following summary of approved practice
regarding the Maintainer field for discussion, with the intent of
changing "If a source package is modified relative to Debian" to "If a
source package has Ubuntu-specific modifications" in the spec, if this
summary matches consensus as to best practice.

Defintions:
    Maintainer: The Maintainer, as listed in debian/control
    Ubuntu Maintainer: A Maintainer (person or group) with an
@ubuntu.com email address
    Ubuntu Modifications: Any changes to a package as a result of
following Ubuntu practices or guidelines such that either the
resulting source differs from Debian practice (e.g. the use of a
-0ubuntu1 version number) or that the resulting source package differs
between Ubuntu and the external repostory from which the package is
sourced.
    Default Maintainer: "Ubuntu Core Developers" or Ubuntu "MOTU
Developers", as appropriate
    Original Maintainer: The person or group responsible for the
package source as first imported into Ubuntu

Practice:
    Binary Packages:  Any binary package for which the Maintainer is
not an Ubuntu Maintainer will undergo maintainer mangling as
implemented by pkgbinarymangler prior to distribution in the Ubuntu
archives.

    Source Packages:  Any source package with Ubuntu Modifications
must have an Ubuntu Maintainer.  If the Original Maintainer is not an
Ubuntu Maintainer, the Maintainer should be set to the Default
Maintainer, and the XSBC-Original-Maintainer field added in
debian/control, with a value matching the Original Maintainer.

0: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebianMaintainerField
1: http://master.debian.org/~jeroen/polls/maintainer-field/

-- 
Emmet