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piuparts.debian.org: Frequently Asked Questions

Q. I think I've spotted a problem, what should I do now?

A) Best to check this FAQ first, to see if you really found something new :-) Then, take a look at the BTS and maybe at the ToDo file.

Q. piuparts logs are long and cluttered with debug output - how do you read them?
A) Usually it's best to read them bottom up, as errors happen at the end.
Q. Whom should I contact if I think I found a false positive?

A) debian-qa@lists.debian.org - but please read the complete FAQ before doing so.

Q. Why are some package in state ''circular dependency''?

A) The package fai-client depends on perl and perl depends on perl-modules and perl-modules depends on perl, thus piuparts doesn't know which package to test first. This has been addressed in piuparts 0.38, but sadly needs a list of known circular depends. (Annoying details available on request, will be added here when the next person asks ;-) Long story short: if currently a package is in this state, the list of known ciruclar depends needs to be modified. But in general, this is not the best thing to do, better to get rid of the circular depends in the first place!

Q. Quite some packages are in the state ''dependency-does-not-exist'', but they have resolvable depends, they "just" list unresolvable depends first. Isn't that a bug in piuparts?

A) Yes, that's a known bug in piuparts master-slave mode. If a package has alternative depends, only the first is considered :-( But I think it's also a (at least wishlist) bug, to list resolvable alternative first :-D

Q. What does state ''cannot-be-tested'' mean?

A) This means that the package couldn't be tested when it was tried the last time. Check the linked log to find out the exact reason :-) Usually it's because some depends haven't been build on piatti's architecture (amd64) yet. After seven days these packages are automatically rescheduled for testing, about this the piuparts.d.o maintainers are informed via mail, so if this happens regularily for a package they should notice.

Q. What does state ''dependency-cannot-be-tested'' mean?

A) Read the previous question and apply logic ;-)

Q. What does state ''dependency-failed-testing'' mean?
A) This means that at least one of the package dependencies failed its own piuparts testing. As a consequence, a package in the dependency-failed-testing state is not tested.
Q. I think I found a false entry in state ''waiting-for-dependency-to-be-tested'' or ''circular-dependency'': one of the dependencies is failed, so that package should be listed at ''dependency-failed-testing'', what should I do?

A) Congratulations, you found a known bug! ;-) Some packages are listed there incorrectly, this is due to their circular dependencies and the way, piuparts breaks circular depends. The consequences are harmless though, such a package will never reach the waiting-to-be-tested state.

Q. So there are quite some issues in the piuparts webpages (just look at the previous five questions), shouldn't you first fix them before announcing piuparts.debian.org widely?
A) No. piuparts.debian.org is already very useful to detect problems and to file bugs. Once those bugs are filed (and fixed) it makes more sense to investigate those packages which cannot be tested at the moment.
Q. A package I'm interested in is in an untestable state. How can I find out if it would pass the piuparts test?

A) Run piuparts manually, as described in that README.

Q. My non-amd64 binary package is missing, do you plan to test other architectures?
A) Yes. (Look at the file TODO in svn trunk.)
Q. You are only testing main. Do you plan to test contrib and non-free?

A) Yes, when main is reasonably free of issues. But you can test your favorite package today, using piuparts yourself. It's easy.

Q. How can I help?

A) by filing lots of bugs ;-) Please use piuparts usertags, to be written/copied templates for the bugreports and please get in touch with debian-qa@lists.debian.org too. Mid-term plan is to write tools to ease mass bug-reporting.

Q. I'd like to fix a bug in piuparts - where is the code?

A) https://alioth.debian.org/scm/browser.php?group_id=30965 has the piuparts source code, while http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=piuparts/piatti.git;a=summary is the code being run piatti.debian.org to produce http://piuparts.debian.org. See the piuparts wiki page for more information on how to help developing piuparts.

Q. There is something in a piuparts logfile on piuparts.debian.org that I don't understand, where can I get an answer?

A) You have at least three options: 1. add a question here, the diff is being watched and your question shall be answered. 2. Send an email to piuparts-devel@lists.alioth.debian.org 3. Ask on IRC on #debian-qa.

Q. Can I somehow tell piuparts to retest my package?
A) Not automatically. Contact on mailing list or IRC.


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