Orphaning Candidate packages for removal due to FTBFS, implications

[Hans de Goede]

Hi,

On 01/16/2010 03:50 PM, Matt Domsch wrote:
> On Sat, Jan 16, 2010 at 10:13:32AM +0100, Michael Schwendt wrote:
>> It's a more fundamental problem, though. The AWOL-process is for people,
>> not for packages. The people may still be active (and even known to be
>> active somewhere) and not AWOL, but the packages which are assigned to
>> them would still look orphaned. FTBFS is just one way to find packages
>> that don't even build.
>> However, if that happens, it may be much too late. Such a package may have
>> been in an unmaintained desolate state for a long time already.
>
> In general I've been running the FTBFS scripts about monthly; maybe
> less so as we approach a release (nearly all packages get rebuilt,
> especially if there's a mass rebuild that happens).  I think that's
> frequent enough to detect FTBFS; also we're not yet proposing dropping
> packages that don't rebuild in F13 yet; only those that never got
> rebuilt for F12.  So the FTBFS now-orphaned packages are at 1 year old
> with no real progress to speak of.
>
>
>> With nobody handling the incoming bugzilla tickets. With some bug
>> reports having been killed in an automated way at dist EOL. And
>> worse if it turns out that packages which do build are unmaintained
>> nevertheless, with the same symptoms in bugzilla and in package scm.
>
> We could easily create a new class of bugzilla ticket, say
> "MAINTAINED".  An automated process would generate such tickets,
> blocking F13MAINTAINED.  The ticket would ask the maintainer to close
> the ticket to remain the owner of the package.  Tickets still open
> after $SOMEDELAY would be candidates for orphan or non-responsive
> maintainer process.  Repeat at $SOMEINTERVAL, perhaps once per release
> cycle (more would be too onerous I think).
>
> With a slight modification, my ftbfs bugzilla script could generate
> the tickets.
>
> Thoughts?
>


Bad idea (says someone who owns 150 packages). I don't feel like
getting 150 bugzilla mails and having to (mass) close them each
release.

Regards,

Hans