Most of the money you see in and around Free / Open Source Software, Hardware and other projects is in the hands of large groups and self styled organisations, with little or none reaching the actually contributors/maintainer/developers of your favourite projects who actually do the core work.
Consider donating to projects and persons directly.
If you choose to do so, you can donate to me via the link below. Any donations are greatly appreciated and go towards hosting and hardware so I can continue contribution across a wide variety of projects.
Work In Progress (WIP)
Page is a work in progress. Please be patient.
Debian Mentoring
For valuable information about Debian Mentors, see the link below.
Mentors: Debian Mentors.
Kathenas Test Hardware
All tests are performed on a amd64 Debian testing/trixie Virtual Machine (VM) and a secondary spare bare metal laptop.
Note: I only have Intel/AMD 64-bit hardware, so issues may exist on other architectures.
Reviewing of a Package
Below are the tests I run in order against packages submitted to Debian Mentors that I give my time to review..
Action 1
Get package source from Debian Mentors or Salsa repository.
dget -x <URL>/<package>.dsc
gbp clone --pristine-tar git@salsa.debian.org:<URL>/<package>.git
Friendly Note: Debian Developers (DD), do like an up to date Salsa repository of a package. Some DDs will sponsor from Salsa only, so keeping your Salsa repository always up to date is a good habit to have.
Test 1 - reproducibility
Information: This test does not block a package being tagged as confirmed and uploaded to Debian.
sudo reprotest --vary=-build_path,domain_host.use_sudo=1 --auto-build <package>.dsc -- schroot unstable-amd64-sbuild
Test 2 - pbuilder
sudo pbuilder build <package>.dsc
Test 3 - pbuilder, build after successful build
sudo pbuilder build --twice <package>.dsc
Test 4 - sbuild
Information on sbuild and its setup can be found at sbuild.
sbuild -d unstable <package>.dsc
Note: sbuild provides us build, lintian, piuparts and autopkgtest information for our report when configured enabling these components.
Test 5 - ratt - Rebuild A The Things
Information: This test does not block a package being tagged as confirmed and uploaded to Debian.
ratt (“Rebuild All The Things!”) operates on a Debian .changes file of a just-built package, identifies all reverse-build-dependencies and rebuilds them with the .debs from the .changes file.
ratt <package>_<architecture>.changes
I use a Debian testing environment, so adding --dist is required.
ratt --dist trixie <package>_<architecture>.changes
Test 6 - 'debian/watch'
Test is run withinin the packages unpacked root directory.
uscan --dehs
Test 7 - lrc (licenserecon)
Friendly Note: licenserecon is a new, valuable and quickly evolving tool. If you find an issue or see a false positive, please report it as a bug to help make the package better.
Test is run within the packages unpacked root directory.
lrc
Test 8 - (first run)
This test is an install/upgrade of the package and then first run of the package where appropriate.
- Install when not installed.
- Upgrade when older version presently installed.
- Setup and running.
Reporting Review Results
Reporting to Debian Mentors can take place on a packages submission page on Debian Mentors or via email if a Request For Sponsor (RFS) bug has been filed on the Debian Bug Tracking System (BTS).
Personal Note: I much prefer if submitters to Debian Mentors file a Request For Sponsor (RFS) bug, as this makes tracking a packages state through the process.
Request For Sponsor (RFS) HOWTO
Example Report 1
Control: tags -1 + <SUBMITTER>, Review of upload: For information about the tests run, see: https://wiki.debian.org/PhilWyett/DebianMentoring Test 1 (reproducibility): - None blocking. Test 2 (pbuilder): Test 3 (build twice): Test 4 (sbuild): Test 5 (ratt): - None blocking. Test 6 (debian/watch): Test 7 (licenserecon): Test 8 (first run): Summary ======= <ADD SUMMARY>
Manual Pages
Links to the Debian unstable/sid Manual Pages for the applications referenced on this page.
Most of the money you see in and around Free / Open Source Software, Hardware and other projects is in the hands of large groups and self styled organisations, with little or none reaching the actually contributors/maintainer/developers of your favourite projects who actually do the core work.
Consider donating to projects and persons directly.
If you choose to do so, you can donate to me via the link below. Any donations are greatly appreciated and go towards hosting and hardware so I can continue contribution across a wide variety of projects.