Re: [gentoo-dev] Adding slot and subslot deps to others' packages

[Rich Freeman]

On Sun, Mar 2, 2014 at 1:09 PM, Jeroen Roovers <jer@g.o> wrote:
> Honestly, setting up a tracker and blocking it with bugs about packages
> which someones-sub-SLOT-checking-script has vetted to be involved could
> be done in less than a day (for the hundred or so packages that depend
> on dev-libs/libgcrypt). It doesn't need some QA team to study in depth
> -- it needs a couple of volunteers to do the checks and file the bug
> reports.

Honestly, it would be best to coordinate this with QA.  QA isn't just
about taking away commit rights in punishment for your sins.  Scripts
to help make devs aware of potential improvements should be a part of
QA as well.

And that isn't saying that you have to be on the QA team in order to
do this either.  If this sort of thing interests anybody, just ping
them.  I know QA is interested in improving the use of slot operator
dependencies, because they've said as much on their irc channel...

My script for spotting opportunities to use slot op deps is still out
there.  Of course, I wouldn't just "fix" any ebuild that comes up as
there are situations where it isn't appropriate.  What would probably
make sense is for QA to define a var for ebuilds to set when they've
been screened and found to be false positives, and then suppress them
from the output.

I'm all for nudging maintainers to add slot op deps when they make
sense, or allowing others to do the work for them as long as they
exercise reasonable care.  Ebuilds don't belong to maintainers, but we
should work with them whenever possible so that they're in a position
to spot issues and deal with them.

Rich