[maemo-developers] Repositories mess: conclusions and actions

[From: Ferenc Szekely]

On Nov 8, 2007 8:04 PM, Simon Pickering <S.G.Pickering at bath.ac.uk> wrote:
>
> Yes, so this means we definitely need extras-devel as a first step then.
>
The extras-devel repo is created with 3 different incoming queues
(gregale, bora, chinook).

You need the following entries in your /etc/dput.cf config file:

[extras-devel-gregale]
login = <your maemo.org user name>
method = scp
hash = md5
fqdn = garage
allow_unsigned_uploads = 0
incoming = /var/www/extras-devel/incoming/gregale

[extras-devel-bora]
login = <your maemo.org user name>
method = scp
hash = md5
fqdn = garage
allow_unsigned_uploads = 0
incoming = /var/www/extras-devel/incoming/bora

[extras-devel-chinook]
login = <your maemo.org user name>
method = scp
hash = md5
fqdn = garage
allow_unsigned_uploads = 0
incoming = /var/www/extras-devel/incoming/chinook

Check if you have an entry for "garage" in your ~/.ssh/config file.
Below is a skeleton:

  Host garage
     HostName garage.maemo.org
     User <your maemo.org user name>
     IdentityFile /home/<user_name>/.ssh/id_rsa

Please also make sure that you __use the right queue__ for uploading packages.

Just a reminder about our SDK naming convention:

  gregale is for OS2006 based development
  bora is for OS2007 based development
  chinook is for OS2008 based development

I will create a new page about "extras-devel" in the wiki and will
also update the "extras" page [1] at some point.

> (This is probably repeating what others have said): Perhaps one way to
> deal with this is to use an automatic rating application (or simple bug
> filing) for applications which are placed in the extras-devel repo. If
> there are no bugs filed, or the ratings are positive, then it's
> promoted to the main extras repo where "normal" people will see it and
> install it. If there are any negative ratings/bugs at that point it's
> pushed back down into the extras-devel repo.
>
> There's still the problem of getting enough people to actually rate an
> app (in a positive sense), or conversely to file bugs rather than just
> uninstalling it and moving on. The developers group is (and it is us
> who would presumably be the ones doing these ratings of things in the
> extras-devel repo) not all that large, and of that group not everyone
> will be interested in every app.
>

I like the idea of the automatic app rating based on bugs. IMO it
would only work if we agree that all apps use the same bug reporting
system, e.g. garage tracker, or maemo bugzilla. If we let the projects
to use their own favorite system then setting up automation would be
very tricky.

> To get back onto what to do with regards to repos now. We're all
> reasonably trustworthy, there's no reason to think we'd produce shoddy
> .debs on purpose, so why not (until the auto-builder/rating apps/etc.
> are ready) let people upload (on an individual basis) their .debs to
> the extras-devel repo. If there's no complaints about a package in some
> time period (2 weeks for example) then it's automatically pushed into
> extras.
>
I agree. The uploaders are carefully chosen. I know, since I have been
doing that in 99% of the cases so far. I hope this will change now and
we can really gather a group of "extras maintainers" who would
actually administrate the repository and also grant rights for others.
After all "extras" was created for contributions. Some of you may
remember that 1st time we actually called it "contrib" repo :)

> I'm not sure how the "complaints" would best be handled (or how people
> could know where to complain about a given library). Perhaps leave it
> up to the authors to keep an eye on ITT/the mailing lists to see
> whether anything comes up?
>
Perhaps it is a good practice to keep the maintainer's email address
of the package up-to-date. The package maintainer is often not the
same person as the developer, but he/she must have contact(s) to the
upstream project.

> Anyway, I'm sure that's gone round in circles and repeated what
> everyone else has said :)
>
> Cheers,
>
> Si
>

Please let me know if you have problems with the uploads to "extras-devel".

Misha, let's test the "package promoter UI" some day. If we get it
work then the next step will be to create a separate garage group
(e.g. "extras admins" or "extras promoters") whose members could
actually use that tool.

Cheers,
ferenc

[1] http://maemo.org/community/application-catalog/extras_repository.html