[gentoo-user] Re: status of dev-java/icedtea

[James]

Rich Freeman <rich0 <at> gentoo.org> writes:


> Really all it takes to keep a package around is somebody standing up
> to commit to take care of it, and they don't have to be a developer.
> If nobody is willing to do that (and yes, you do need to follow QA
> standards when doing so), then removal is just a matter of time.

That's not my reality. I volunteered to take over (4) cluster packages
from the soon-to-retire dev, jsbronder, on gentoo-dev. It was agreed to.
In another thread, I basically stated that I am not compatible with irc, so
some devs said oh, we now have a mail_list for proxy maint. Cool, right?
Well, I've subscribe to the list several times, tried to post directly
to the ML and via gmane::

ttp://news.gmane.org/gmane.linux.gentoo.proxy-maint

to no avail.

(2/4) of the packages ganglia, are now listed with sys-cluster project, 
as is openmesh, which is OK and the last one ::
media-gfx/openmesh  is 'Maintainer:  None specified '


I was told to change the metadata.xml on the packages I wanted to claim,
but I cannot find an example of how a ordinary user can do this. If it
is a 'pull request' via github, somebody needs to document that somewhere as
it is the first step and a critical step.

There needs to be a way to ask questions, via a MailList on for proxy folks
so those questions and answer can be coallesced into a FAQ and eventually be
use to create formal gentoo wiki docs. The routine actions of a proxy-dev
(let's say the most common 20-40) things you need to know and do, needs to
be documented (in the gentoo wiki) including a cookbook on github.

So your answer is correct if you have dev-level skills but not accurate for
ordinary users. Note:: I do know how to code and use bash, but not github.
I think it is unreasonable not to have a github cookbook as it relates to
the routine things you need to do to take over a gentoo package.

>
> > Every other distro is at peace with java, but not
> > gentoo. It never has been. Many devs just hate java and do everything they
> > can to removed it from gentoo, imho.
>
> I won't disagree that most Gentoo devs tend to dislike Java.  Half the
> reason we use github as much as we do is because the alternatives
> mostly use Java and infra doesn't want to touch it with a ten foot
> pole, and neither do any volunteers, really.
>
> However, all it really takes to make Gentoo well-supported on Gentoo
> is a dev or two willing to enthusiastically care for it.  Ultimately
> Gentoo is what we make of it.

Yea, well I've tried for years but, I'm a hack and a follower on java,
not a designer or somebody that works with it day in and day out.

I have a very important (probably one of the hottest codes in the entire
cluster space, broken as an ebuild in bgo:: apache/spark, because we 
lack java expertise......


> And of course you can maintain all this stuff on an overlay if you
> prefer.  Nobody could even stop you from doing that.  I don't get why
> you think there is some conspiracy out to get rid of overlays.  Many
> Gentoo projects use them, most Gentoo devs use them, they're clearly
> useful, and there is no real benefit to anybody to try to lock things
> down so that only official overlays work.
>
> Really the only goal here is to make sure the stuff that bears
> Gentoo's name is secure and well-maintained and doesn't create burdens
> on other projects.  Nobody really cares what you do on your own
> overlay, because it doesn't have any effect on anything Gentoo does.

So a new overlay that I run, should be on github?  I need help with github,
it's a blocker of a lot of my gentoo work.


> So, if even one person decided to put some well-maintained packages on
> a java overlay then anybody who wants to use them could.

I routinely use the java-overlay

> The irony here is that I tend to favor keeping unmaintained packages
> around as long as possible.  I've certainly gotten into arguments with
> treecleaners in the past.  However, there are sometimes lines that
> packages end up on the wrong side of, and at that point either
> somebody has to put in the work to fix them, or they need to be
> removed.

Obviously we agree on leaving old codes around. If they are to be removed
from the tree, a mechanism for invididuals to resurrect them needs to be
complete, *FIRST*, imho.

I was very happy to see the Blueness 'slap-down' for their actions on
' monkeyd'. All those old 'C' codes that are not harming anything, are being
cleansed, cause the cleaners like other languages. They are not hurting a
thing and can easily be moved to unstable and left in the tree.

What the github replacement for the attic, and where do I find docs on how
to use it. github is a 'pita' for this old C hack..... Perhaps stop the tree
cleaning until there is a documented replacement (github centric)
for the attic?


James