Re: Release management

[karlheg@cathcart.sysc.pdx.edu (Karl M. Hegbloom)]

>>>>> "Joseph" == Joseph Carter <knghtbrd@debian.org> writes:

    Joseph> For an example of the problem, look at afterstep.  Nice
    Joseph> windowmanager.  There are newer versions of it out there,
    Joseph> new stable versions.  The maintainer hasn't packaged them
    Joseph> but has been promising he will for more than a month.  The
    Joseph> package is a nightmare.  Lintian all but panics.  The
    Joseph> package conflicts with another package but doesn't declare
    Joseph> its conflict (and in fact shouldn't conflict at all..) The
    Joseph> new versions of menu don't even WORK with its dated menu
    Joseph> format and the standards version on the package is I think
    Joseph> 2.4.0.  More still, it has a pile of release critical bugs
    Joseph> against it.

 Perhaps someone should grab a `can' and bail the maintainer out?
 Often enough other things in people's lives must take precedence over 
 their free software activities.

    Joseph> In such cases developers should be able to NMU these
    Joseph> packages without worrying about complaints of package
    Joseph> hijacking.  Although in the case of afterstep, hijacking
    Joseph> it doesn't seem like such a bad idea...

 Maybe some work has already been done and a CVS vendor-tracking
 repository could be started for it on a Debian server, where you and
 other interested people can try and co-ordinate a bail-out effort, in 
 co-operation with the maintainer.  (Who may well be a busy student
 with books more important than a window manager that cannot be fully
 understood until the books are all read?)