[Dict-common-dev] Draft for a sort of news bulletin

[Agustín Martín Domingo]

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
--------------090409040607090706040902
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Hi all,

Since it seems that we will not have time for a deadline before summer I 
have rewritten the ANNOUNCE.pre-final to something looking more a news 
bulletin to show maintaners the latest news about the project and 
introducing the proximity of a deadline for the transition. Alhough the 
document leaves the door open to an enthusiastic call for a fast 
transition, reallity points to september.

Find attached a draft. A copy is in the CVS.

-- 
=====================================================================
Agustin Martin Domingo, Dpto. de Fisica, ETS Arquitectura Madrid,
(U. Politecnica de Madrid)  tel: +34 91-336-6536, Fax: +34 91-336-6554,
email:agmartin@aq.upm.es, http://corbu.aq.upm.es/~agmartin/welcome.html

--------------090409040607090706040902
Content-Type: text/plain;
 name="ANNOUNCE.news1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Content-Disposition: inline;
 filename="ANNOUNCE.news1"

Hi all,

Welcome to the latest news related to the dict-common project for=20
Debian. This project has to do with policy and common support for=20
ispell dictionaries and wordlists in Debian.

- On the one hand, we are pleased to announce a further step in the=20
  dictionaries-common project: We now have at the sourceforge=20
  staging area ports to the new system of all ispell dictionaries=20
  and wordlists currently in Debian!

- On the other hand, we have a nice latest new: policy now covers=20
  compatibility with pspell-ispell modules. That means that e.g.=20
  abiword now works properly with the ispell dictionaries following=20
  this new policy.

This means that we can make a full testing of the whole system to=20
debug for major problems. So, please, test and test. It is our point=20
of view that minor problems can be debugged in the official Debian=20
repository after the transition has been carried out.=20

This brings us to the need for a deadline. Our initial candidate for=20
a deadline was the end of this month, but real life, work on=20
integration of pspell support and building of the remaining packages=20
has taken a bit more than expected. This has probably made this=20
deadline too short. If we move the deadline to some week in July we=20
have the problem that August is coming and that in that month many=20
of us will be unavailable. So seems more reasonable to set the=20
deadline in the first days of September unless you really want the=20
transition to be done right now (that is, in a couple of weeks). In=20
any case please let us know what do you think about this.

One important thing: we are trying to do our best to keep in sync=20
packages in the sourceforge staging area with packages in Debian=20
unstable. But remember that both systems are no longer compatible,=20
so please do not upload any old style ispell dictionary or wordlist=20
packages to Debian in the meantime. That will confuse the transition.=20
If you really have to do it, drop us an email first. That way the=20
version in the Conflicts line of dictionaries-common can be changed=20
in time and your new package will not break anything. A new policy=20
package in sync with the official one (and a higher version) should=20
then be put at the sourceforge staging area.

Since the migration needs to be done in a highly coordinated way to=20
have it done in the minimum possible period of time after the deadline,=20
we need to know which are your plans with respect to it. Note that=20
after the new ispell and dictionaries-common are uploaded to Debian=20
all previous ispell dictionaries and wordlists will become=20
uninstallable.

So, please let us know what you do prefer. In any case, please contact=20
us through the dict-common-dev mailing list, so we know you are not MIA.

If you are still not subscribed to the dict-common-dev mailing list at=20
sourceforge, that is the best way to get in touch with us and discuss=20
the final details of the transition.

Remember that the project page is at:

http://dict-common.sourceforge.net/

Your dictionaries-common team:

Rafael Laboissi=E8re,
David Coe,
Agust=EDn Mart=EDn Domingo

--------------090409040607090706040902--