Reviewing via Launchpad (was Re: Temporary REVU package storage)

[Jordan Mantha]

On 8/17/07, Scott Kitterman <ubuntu at kitterman.com> wrote:
> On Friday 17 August 2007 08:35, Neil Wilson wrote:
> > I'm sure the limits and space are very welcome. Bear in mind that
> > Launchpad has Private Package Archives as of next Wednesday and there
> > is still a beta running at the moment.
> >
> > Perhaps it is time to adopt the tool used for the rest of Ubuntu
> > development. Certainly as a package developer looking for sponsorship
> > it is a damn sight easier to use the Launchpad PPAs and an associated
> > bug than the REVU site. Launchpad even emails you when somebody
> > comments!

I really didn't want this to turn into another Launchpad debate. The
issue was how to address people's needs *today* while Launchpad is
down. We can also be simultaneously discussing the future of our
package review system, but I think we should move that to another
thread.

> Let's not.
>
> There is a mailing list you can get REVU comments from.

And a lot of people don't want to read that mailing list because it's
full of spam and comments for packages they aren't interested in. But
yes, there is a mailing list.

> The less we are entangled with Launchpad in our process, IMO, the more actual
> work we can get done.  LP Is so slow that I find it's usability to be
> extraordinarily marginal.

So integrating package review into the tool we use for access control,
bugs, specs, and archive maintenance means we get less done? I really
fail to see "we'll get more work  done" as a valid argument when the
alternative is for us to write our own app to do it. If the argument
is that Launchpad doesn't have the features we need then that's
something that can be discussed. But let's try to keep things to
specifics as much as possible. Launchpad developers are very open to
developing the features we need, and I think it would be a shame to
not utilize their efforts where we can.

I personally find Debian's BTS to be so slow that I find it's
usability to be extraordinarily marginal. It's UI is very unintuitive
and troublesome for me. However, it's a system that works for many
people so I'm not about to call for Debian/Ubuntu developers to stop
using it. I much prefer the web interface of LP to the email interface
of Debian's BTS. I'm curious (and I'm sure Launchpad admins would be
to), what "slowness" would affect our use of Launchpad to review
packages?

> The only advantage PPAs have is that packages will get built on at least two
> archs and so it would cut down on reviewing packages that turn out to FTBFS.

PPAs allow for storage and bandwidth, which is not always easy to come
by for people (especially new contributors). It also allows for easy
testing of the binary packages by a wider audience, comes with access
restrictions, and is more consistent with the rest of MOTU work.

> Can I dget from a PPA?

Sure, a PPA is an ordinary ubuntu repo.

I'm not sold on using solely Launchpad for package review as I haven't
seen yet a workflow that looks good enough for us to use. PPAs and bzr
have added some interesting elements, but we need a clear way to use
them for package reviewing. I think it might be wise to talk to the
Launchpad developers, see what they've got coming up and see what they
can do for us. The first step in any of this is to define what "must
have" features we need and what workflow works well for use.

-Jordan