Becoming a contributor and FC(release-1) and FC(release+1) branches

[Jeff Spaleta]

On 12/21/05, Jonathan Underwood <jonathan.underwood at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 21/12/05, Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams <ivazquez at ivazquez.net> wrote:
> > Previous versions are at the packager's discretion. devel should be
> > mandatory unless a) the app doesn't run on Rawhide and never will, or b)
> > the package is in Rawhide.
>
> I can't quite decide if that's a statement of fact, or a statement of
> your opinion?

I'll state it as fact.  A devel branch should absolutely exist in Core
or Extras for a package that will be useful in the next fedora
release. If it doesn't work in devel but it works in the current
fedora release, that's something for you and the reviewer to hash out.
 Considering the rate of change in the devel tree i don't think anyone
can reasonable expect that problems in the devel branch should always
block a build into the fc4(or whatever the current release is) 
Depending on the situation, if a package doesn't work in rawhide, but
the reviewer can review it successfully for fc4.. then it should be
allowed to be imported into devel and fc4 branches and built for fc4..
and the packager can continue to work on the devel branch problems in
the fedora cvs system. This arrangement of course should be
discouraged right before a core release, for upgrade path
considerations.  The nature of the development tree is such that
problems will continue to develop over time and have to be address as
the underlying dependancies in Core change. Crap in the development
tree is prone to breakage over time regardless of whats happening
during the review.

> Assuming it's a statement of fact, is it acceptable to contribute
> devel packages built with mock in the absence of a rawhide install to
> test on? I realize there's a world of difference...

I am not aware of a requirement that contributors run rawhide.  It
should be enough to reach out on the lists for rawhide users to do the
functionality testing if its required. Just like contributors are not
expected to have access to all arches either.  What you should do is
be clear as to which branch you have tested on locally when you
request the package inclusion so the reviewer can be aware.  Noone has
access to enough hardware to check all functionality, all you can
really do is work out the buildbugs so it can get into the tree and
testers and beat their heads against it.

-jef