package reviews from beginners

[Hans de Goede]

Hi,

Welcome to the Fedora Community!

David Timms wrote:
> Could I get some feedback on whether people feel it is appropriate for a 
> person wanting to get sponsored for packaging to be providing 
> non-official reviews on any random package ?
> 
> Can I just "follow da rulez", pointing out the diversions, so that the 
> packaging fits Fedora ?  [and state that I have no knowledge of the 
> software being package ?]
> 
> Or should I at minimum understand what the particular package /software 
> /application is actually trying to do ?
> 

As a beginner I would advice you to only try and review programs which you can 
test yourself. So for example something exotic like my cross compiling packages 
for the gp2x handheld console would not be a good idea. A simple cmdline / gui 
utility which you can actually give a quick test run, would be a good idea.

> Should I only choose potential packages that are written in a language I 
> have good knowledge of ?
> 

If you know a programming language, reviewing packages in that language is a 
good idea, however being able to program is not a skill you must have as a 
packager. Keep in mind when you don't know the programming language that:
-the generic guidelines were written with mostly C/C++ programs in mind
-there are special interest groups (SIGs) for other languages with additonal
  guidelines see:
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/SIGs/#head-cd259dc1b2b40c7d270203b0be0d801986d33ec0

> Can a package submitter submit software written by themselves ?
If that software is acceptable according to the legal guidelines (FOSS license, 
no patents):
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Packaging/Guidelines#head-8be956fd12dbe4ae927e65c989e7e83b9fcc0b80

> Even if they can't, can't a patch I/someone add to a package do 
> ~anything~ to a users system ?
Yes, thats why:
1) You must first earn some trust
2) All commits to CVS get checked by various people and
    checks are also done to ensure that the used source are identical to
    upstream.

But in the end trust is the most important factor, that however doesn't go for 
just the Fedora Project, why on earth do you think a small paper someone 
printed $100 on is worth a couple of shopping carts filled with food? Because 
you trust the system / person who printed the small paper. If I were hungry and 
I could choose I know what I would choose :)

> For software that is open but may be only targeted for a narrow 
> audience, or that has not had updates for some years, will a package be 
> automatically rejected ?
> 

Nope, if you're interested in it, and can make it work against the latest 
versions of the libs it needs, then thats fine.

Regards,

Hans