From 770042b07cc441a9a737efd52258c0845423f391 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: aba Date: Sat, 11 Nov 2006 18:00:05 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] I really mean it! git-svn-id: svn://anonscm.debian.org/ddp/manuals/trunk/developers-reference@3937 313b444b-1b9f-4f58-a734-7bb04f332e8d --- README-contrib | 3 ++- developers-reference.sgml | 23 +++++++++++++---------- 2 files changed, 15 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-) diff --git a/README-contrib b/README-contrib index 38a598e..226b5a9 100644 --- a/README-contrib +++ b/README-contrib @@ -30,7 +30,8 @@ patches against the CVS sources, about which see below. Do not commit patches to the developers reference yourself unless authorized to do so. Patches need to be finalized and common opinion -before they are applied. +before they are applied. This is even true if you happen to have +cvs access for other reasons. * CVS diff --git a/developers-reference.sgml b/developers-reference.sgml index a00cabd..63a91b9 100644 --- a/developers-reference.sgml +++ b/developers-reference.sgml @@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ %dynamicdata; - + @@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ -copyright © 2004—2005 Andreas Barth +copyright © 2004—2006 Andreas Barth copyright © 1998—2003 Adam Di Carlo @@ -5121,11 +5121,9 @@ maintainers who are deemed Missing In Action are recorded. When a member of the QA group contacts an inactive maintainer or finds more information about one, this is recorded in the MIA database. This system is available in /org/qa.debian.org/mia on the host qa.debian.org, and can be queried -with a tool known as mia-history. By default, -mia-history shows information about every person it knows -about, but it accepts regular expressions as arguments which it uses to -match user names. mia-history --help shows which -arguments are accepted. If you find that no information has been recorded +with a tool known as mia-query. +Use mia-query --help to see how to query the database. +If you find that no information has been recorded about an inactive maintainer already, or that you can add more information, you should generally proceed as follows.

@@ -5160,15 +5158,16 @@ about the maintainer in question as possible. This includes: non-Debian mailing lists or news groups.

-One big problem are packages which were sponsored — the maintainer is not +A bit of a problem are packages which were sponsored — the maintainer is not an official Debian developer. The echelon information is not available for sponsored people, for example, so you need to find and contact the Debian developer who has actually uploaded the package. Given that they signed the -package, they're responsible for the upload anyhow, and should know what +package, they're responsible for the upload anyhow, and are likely to know what happened to the person they sponsored.

It is also allowed to post a query to &email-debian-devel;, asking if anyone is aware of the whereabouts of the missing maintainer. +Please Cc: the person in question.

Once you have gathered all of this, you can contact &email-mia;. People on this alias will use the information you provided in order to @@ -5182,12 +5181,16 @@ cannot dedicate all of our time to Debian. Also, you are not aware of the circumstances of the person who is involved. Perhaps they might be seriously ill or might even had died — you do not know who may be on the receiving side. Imagine how a relative will feel if they read the e-mail -of the deceased and find a very impolite, angry and accusing message!) +of the deceased and find a very impolite, angry and accusing message!

On the other hand, although we are volunteers, we do have a responsibility. So you can stress the importance of the greater good — if a maintainer does not have the time or interest anymore, they should "let go" and give the package to someone with more time. +

+If you are interested in working in the MIA team, please have a look at the +README file in /org/qa.debian.org/mia on qa.debian.org where the technical +details and the MIA procedures are documented and contact &email-mia;. -- 2.30.2