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diff --git a/maintainer.rst b/maintainer.rst new file mode 100644 index 0000000..07dd3b1 --- /dev/null +++ b/maintainer.rst @@ -0,0 +1,73 @@ +Package Maintainers +=================== + +.. index:: maintainer; adding + +Adding new maintainers +---------------------- +:Source: QA +:Reported: no + +Developers must not add other developers as package maintainers, unless +the developers in question consent to that. Developers must not add +projects that they are not members of as package maintainers, unless +one of the project members explicitly agrees to that or the project +policy explicitly permits it. + +*Rationale*: this policy aims to prevent package maintainers being added +as backup maintainers without their consent or knowledge. What's worse, +once the original maintainer resigns the packages frequently drop +to backup maintainers who are neither interested in maintaining them, +nor often aware why they are listed as maintainers. + +For example, developers used to frequently add Python team as a backup +maintainer to various packages not fitting the project's profile. This +includes various end-user programs written in Python. Many of those +packages ended up being maintained solely by Python, and distinguishing +them from packages actually within project's profile was hard. + + +.. index:: maintainer; new packages without + +New packages without a maintainer +--------------------------------- +:Source: QA +:Reported: no + +It is explicitly forbidden to add new packages without a dedicated +maintainer. This does not apply if the package in question is not +technically a new one but merely split out of unmaintained package. + +*Rationale*: Gentoo is currently suffering from a very large number +of packages without a maintainer. There is a small group of developers +trying to fix them as necessary. It is unfair and inappropriate +to increase their maintenance burden by adding new packages and refusing +to take care of them. + + +.. index:: maintainer; removing +.. index:: up for grabs + +Removing package maintainers +---------------------------- +:Source: QA +:Reported: no + +When removing maintainers from a package, the developer must reassign +all bugs filed for it. Furthermore, when removing the last maintainer +for a package, the developer must add the following comment +to ``metadata.xml``:: + + <!-- maintainer-needed --> + +Furthermore, the developer must send an 'up for grabs' mail +to gentoo-dev mailing list, containing the list of packages with +no maintainer. If possible, please include any information that could +be helpful to future maintainers. + +*Rationale*: reassigning bugs is necessary to make sure that old bugs +are not lost assigned to developers who are no longer interested +in them. The maintainer-needed comment is meant to make it possible +to easily grep for unmaintained packages. The 'up for grabs' mails aim +to increase the chances of packages finding a new maintainers (compared +to them silently becoming maintainer-needed). |