Debian Edu / Skolelinux Archive Policy

  1. Every Uploader has to accept the DFSG and the Debian Social Contract in order to have the same base for our work.
  2. DISCLAIMER: Although the ftpmasters are trying to do a great job *we* are making mistakes. Please notice that the developers and *not* the ftpmasters are responsible for the packages, although the ftpmasters feel a little bit responsible for every package in the archive. So for instance if a fix by a developer was not correct, but the package is moved into the stable pool it is not the fault of the ftpmasters.
  3. The work on the three main packages (debian-edu, debian-edu-install and debian-edu-config) is done in Subversion, so only versions which can be found there are allowed to be uploaded in order to guarantee the team maintenance on these packages.
  4. Normally we accept only packages which are also part of Debian. If for some reasons the package is not yet in Debian please write some notes into the changelog. If the package won't go into Debian for some reasons it is necessary to write a mail with a description and the reasons to ML (ftpmaster@skolelinux.org - IRC is not enough). The general intention should be to get the package into debian one day. The most common case this rule applies to is when the package should be tested in the Debian-Edu testing pools first, so that it can be uploaded to Debian after some testing.

  5. Please keep the number of backports to a minimum. If the backport is really needed for our system to run (e.g. new initrd-tools) it will be accepted. If the backport is optional (e.g. a new kde application) you get a better chance for acceptance if you write some comments into the changelog. (This is recommended but not needed). If the package will be rejected you have to discuss it with the ftp-team, their intention is to have a minimum of backports. Change their opinion about your backport and the package will be accepted. Please make sure that your backport is mostly bug free and already in Debian testing. Only by security fixes you should backport a package from unstable.

    We recommend to use specific version strings for our backports: if you have a debian revision number -1 you should use -1~edu.suite+1, where "suite" is for instance "etch" or "lenny".

  6. The version number for the packages uploaded to debian-edu should always be lower than the version in Debian (if the source packages content is identical except for the changelog). This should be achieved by using ~ in version numbers, adding ~edu.etch+1 for uploads to etch and ~edu.lenny+1 for uploads to lenny. As ~ can be used more than once, svn versions should be written as 0.415~svn38891-1 (for debian) and 0.415~svn38891-1~edu.lenny+1 (for debian-edu lenny). As a special case, it is possible to upload identical packages into both debian/unstable and debian-edu/lenny-test when using the 'unstable' suite. This should only be done with arch:all packages, to avoid dependency skew between the debian and debian-edu repositories for the binary packages.

  7. If you intend to become a Debian Edu developer with upload rights yourself please write a mail to drift@skolelinux.org . In this case it makes no sense to write a mail to the ftp-team, although they can/will add you later to the keyring the permission to decide it only has drift. We don't recommend further skills in any area and you do not need to be an official Debian Developer to get upload rights. Please decide on your own if you should get upload rights and write the mail with your intentions and maybe some explanations. (Keep in mind with great power comes great responsibility). If you are not sure and you want to contribute and commit to Subversion and upload packages but you need some introduction/training in packaging you can ask for some help with writing it into the explanation to drift@skolelinux.org. Then drift will assign a developer to you which helps you a bit in getting knowledge about Subversion, the Debian Edu development, packaging and uploading to the archive. (Maybe this is one of the ftp-team). This developer tries to help you as fast as he/she can, please don't be angry if it takes some time he/she might be right busy but tries his/her very best to help you.

  8. If you upload a package you want to have it on the CD Image. We try to get our whole distribution on one CD and use the official Debian mirrors for any other package. If your package is not good enough to make it on the CD please drop it until it is good enough.
  9. We have currently these suites: sarge, etch-test, etch, lenny-test, lenny, squeeze-test and sid. Every suite except etch, sarge and sid generates a CD Image which should be tested. We separate the suites into "normal suites" and "-test suites". If you want to upload a package you have to upload it to the -test pool. After the package made it into the archive you can test the daily build image from the -test pool carefully. If your package/fix is working you should contact the ftp-team and request that the package will be moved into the "normal" pool. With this procedure we guarantee a kind of stable development. If you work on the main packages please try to coordinate your work with the others the best way is to ask/talk about an upload of them on IRC first. Then you have most of the others informed and all can wait with a new upload until the fix is tested and the package made it into the stable pool. For the package move just write a mail to ftpmaster@skolelinux.org and include the package name and new version number and the changelog and if you want some additional explanations.

  10. In order to see the bugzilla interaction it is recommended that you write down in your changelog if you close a Debian Edu / Skolelinux Bug (e.g. * foo bar (Closes Skolelinux Bug #007) ) but keep in mind that you have to close the bug manually in bugzilla!
  11. For updating a package in the stable pool, the following guidelines apply:

    - Write an email to debian-edu@l.d.o. including the old package version, the new proposed package version, a full debdiff (so that everyone can look at the patch) and ask for inclusion. Please also cc the email to ftpmaster@skolelinux.org. Use the following subject for the mail: 'Stable update proposal: $package' - Usually, the package waits for 3 days after the request, before an update will be considered.

    - If no problem arises and an ftpmaster agrees, the new package version goes in. If the package does not get an approval, the reject message will be send to the list. If the package got accepted, an announcement will be send to the debian-edu-announce@l.d.o. list.

  12. In addition to these rules we try to follow the normal Rejection-FAQ written by the Debian ftpmasters to make sure we keep the archive legal and keep the packages in good quality. You find their rejection-FAQ at http://ftp-master.debian.org/REJECT-FAQ.html

  13. The Uploaders are not anonymous. A current list can be found at http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Uploaders

  14. To update this list it is compulsory to write a mail to debian-edu@lists.debian.org and include the changes with a small explanation. If there is no protest the changes can be added to this document and they can be considered as part of the policy for the Debian Edu archive. If there is any protest this has to be taken into consideration and discussed in public on debian-edu@lists.debian.org

Some explanations about the suites

dput.cf for debian-edu

[edu]
fqdn = a.skolelinux.no
method = ftp
login = anonymous
incoming = /pub/UploadQueue/

Current ftp-team

The ftp-team is not anonymous. The current members are:

If you want to get in contact with them or if you just have some questions write a mail to:ftpmaster@skolelinux.org

Retired ftp-team members

Previous members of the team are:

Thank you for your work on Debian Edu!