REVU, #ubuntu-packaging, and mentors.debian.org

[Daniel Holbach]

Hey,

Am 14.11.2011 12:28, schrieb Reinhard Tartler:
> On Mo, Nov 14, 2011 at 12:05:31 (CET), Daniel Holbach wrote:
>> While it would be nice for debexpo to have a similar feature, it seems
>> more worrying to me that we still advertise a process that is broken and
>> we set wrong expectations.
> 
> What exactly are the 'wrong expectations' that are advertised to
> potential contributors?

Currently the Ubuntu Wiki explains that in order to get a new package
into Ubuntu (and if you don't wish to get it through the Debian NEW
process), you have to upload it to REVU, etc.

This creates the impression that somebody will review the package on
REVU. This is unfortunately not the case generally. My experience is
that you a) have to know an Ubuntu developer to get help or b) the
software you package needs to be of high interest to a lot of people.

A lot of us put effort into reviewing packages on REVU in the past, but
it is happening less and less. I got the impression that a lot of Ubuntu
developers feel that pushing packages directly into Debian is more helpful.


>> Personally I'd rather like to see REVU closed, the documentation changed
>> and for packaging review (or general code review) any VCS be used, where
>> you can very easily track changes in packaging, without incrementing
>> packaging version numbers.
> 
> Why do you think that they will be met (better?) with "any VCS"?

Sorry, I wasn't saying that REVU should be replaced with "any VCS", only
that there is other ways to serve the need of "differing packaging
without new version number".


REVU has served us well in the past and I'm thankful we had so many
people working on its code and maintenance and others reviewing packages
on there.

That said, it's quite harsh on new contributors who expect to get a
package into Ubuntu and they never get a reply. I feel we'd better get
involved in the Debian review process of NEW packages and solve the
problem together.

(I hope that was a bit clearer now.)

Have a great day,
 Daniel

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