Debian contemplates patch management [LWN.net]

Debian contemplates patch management

Posted May 21, 2008 7:59 UTC (Wed) by tpo (subscriber, #25713)
In reply to: Debian contemplates patch management by samroberts
Parent article: Debian contemplates patch management

> I have had some of my code debianized. The package hasn't been updated 
> since August 2005! What can I do? As the upstream developer, I've no 
> particular rights as regards the packaging of my software. I don't think 
> I can request mantainership be passed to me.

Maintainership is to some degree a formal affair. As a maintainer you get to decide, OTOH,
nothing prevents you as upstream to do the maintainer's work.

What you can do is apply the Debian diff.gz, include it upstream and improve it. That way, if
Debian's packaged version is in some respect lacking compared to upstream's, users can allways
download your version and build it directly with dpkg-buildpackage. And you can also offer
pre-built Debian packages.

That puts some competition/pressure into the game to offer the "best" package to the user and
can have a healthy effect on "stale" Debian packages. But beware: it can bruise egos, harm the
communication process etc.
*t

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Debian contemplates patch management

Posted May 21, 2008 10:30 UTC (Wed) by angdraug (subscriber, #7487) [Link]

What you can do is apply the Debian diff.gz, include it upstream and improve it.

Making your own deb packages is certainly an option, but including debian/ directory in your source will cause pain to Debian maintainers, as well as maintainers of other Debian-based distros. It's one thing to apply a diff.gz that adds debian/ directory where it doesn't exist, and quite another to re-merge your patch to upstream's debian/ directory for every upstream release. If you want to go down that route, keep your debian/ directory somewhere separate.

Also, as stated above, the ideal solution if you're not happy with the way your software is packaged for Debian is to propose to take it over. As long as you are willing and able to comply with Debian policies, most DDs will be happy to hand it over: we don't want to own the package, we only want the software to be part of Debian and play nice with other packages.