(Fedora join ML CCed)
On Wed, 2017-07-19 at 23:09 +1000, Sam Fowler wrote:
Hi,
Hi Sam,
Welcome to Fedora!
I am interested in getting the python package, PyKCS11, added into the Fedora repos (specifically a python3 version).
https://github.com/LudovicRousseau/PyKCS11
I have read the guide on becoming a fedora package maintainer but am I unsure if I am suited to the role. I was wondering if there's precedent for asking existing fedora package maintainers to become maintainers for new packages.
There's a wishlist here where one can add interesting packages, and if a maintainer is interested, they'd pick it up: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Package_maintainers_wishlist?rd=PackageMainta...
In general, though, people maintain packages that they use themselves. That way, they have a vested interest in keeping their packages up to date, and functional in general.
The package in question, PyKCS11, has equivalent packages already available via pip and in Ubuntu and Debian. I was hoping that given the relative maturity of the upstream package, it would be a straight forward process to get the package added into fedora.
Yea - python software is usually relatively simpler to package up.
The reason for my hesitation in becoming a fedora package maintainer is that I am a junior developer with no history of open source contribution (yet!).
Haha - well here's the opportunity ;)
I am not affiliated with the upstream maintainer, Ludovic Rousseau, but I have contacted him to see if he would be able to add the package into Fedora. He declined but said that he did not have a problem with someone else doing it.
Yea - it's hard for upstreams to maintain the source code and also keep packages in various downstream distributions up to date. This is where package maintainers come in:
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Staying_close_to_upstream_projects
I am happy to support the initial process of submitting this new package. It is relatively trivial to build and install rpms from the github repo (python setup.py bdist_rpm), and I have been testing the use of these rpms myself for sometime now.
Any advice at all would be helpful.
As you've read on the wiki I'm sure, the initial packaging and review is only one part of the maintenance process. It's keeping the software up to date, fixing bugs or reporting them upstream, and making sure the software is functional in general that's the real task - i.e., the long term maintenance.
I would suggest just going ahead and submitting the package for review yourself. This is another helpful wiki page that you must've come across:
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/How_to_get_sponsored_into_the_packager_group