r23747 - /website/howto/RFP.pod

jeremiah-guest at users.alioth.debian.org jeremiah-guest at users.alioth.debian.org
Sun Aug 3 16:11:38 UTC 2008


Author: jeremiah-guest
Date: Sun Aug  3 16:11:36 2008
New Revision: 23747

URL: http://svn.debian.org/wsvn/?sc=1&rev=23747
Log:
Added a first draft of "How to get a CPAN module into debian."

Added:
    website/howto/RFP.pod

Added: website/howto/RFP.pod
URL: http://svn.debian.org/wsvn/website/howto/RFP.pod?rev=23747&op=file
==============================================================================
--- website/howto/RFP.pod (added)
+++ website/howto/RFP.pod Sun Aug  3 16:11:36 2008
@@ -1,0 +1,96 @@
+
+=head1 HOW TO GET A CPAN MODULE INTO DEBIAN.
+
+This guide gives an overview of filing an RFP bug to get a CPAN
+module into debian.
+
+This is a work in progress.  Please send any comments or ideas to
+<jeremiah at jeremiahfoster.com>.
+
+=head2 0. Check the PTS
+
+Perhaps the first thing to do when you want a specific perl module
+brought to debian is to file a bug. There are at least two types of 
+bugs you can file but the most likely one is the RFP bug; Request For
+Packaging. You may want to check that the software is not already in 
+debian by looking the at the PTS; Package Tracking System. After a
+quick check of the PTS determines that the module you want packaged
+is not being worked on or already in debian, go ahead and file the
+RFP bug. 
+
+The RFP bug is easily filed and here is an example of what one looks
+like as an email, which is often the easiest way of interacting with
+debian BTS (Bug Tracking Service.) Debian has a tool to help you with
+this called `reportbug` so if you are on a debian system you can use
+reportbug to create the RFP bug for your module. Here I'll go through
+the steps of reporting a bug and describe the finished bug report.
+
+=head2 1. reportbug
+
+The first step is to install `reportbug` if you are on a debian system,
+use aptitude to install if you do not have reportbug availble. Once
+it is installed we'll call it like this:
+
+reportbug --email you at your-email.com wnpp 
+
+Using reportbug this way automatically tells the BTS that we are
+reporting a bug on wnpp (Work-Needing and Prospective Packages). wnpp
+is a "pseudo package" which we use because we cannot report a bug
+against software that is not yet in debian. Obviously you would
+replace the fake email address with your own.
+
+reportbug runs and then presents you with a dialog asking you to
+specify the type of bug. We are filing an RFP bug and that is
+number 5. (Note that this menu of choices only comes up if you are
+filing a bug against wnpp, if you are filing a bug against something
+else, your menu will differ.)
+
+=head2 2. Picking a name
+
+After you hit 5 and enter, reportbug will prompt you to enter a name
+for the proposed software, this will be the name of the CPAN module
+that debian uses internally. The perl packaging policy is fairly
+explicit on the naming convention debian uses. Following this policy
+is a good idea because once you get used to it you can find a perl
+module on debian simply by knowing its CPAN name. The policy can be
+paraphrased as prepending the prefix 'lib' to the module name,
+replacing "::" with "-" wherever it occures in the name, and adding
+"-perl" to the end and making sure the entire name is lowercase. So
+a CPAN module with the name of Test::Dependencies would become 
+libtest-dependecies-perl. 
+
+Once you have entered a name for the CPAN module, reportbug asks for
+a short description. reportbug then queries the BTS to find other
+bugs which may be related to this bug. If you see your package
+already listed as a bug that may mean that someone else asked for it
+to be packaged or that someone is working on it. In either case, you
+probably do not need to submit another report. If you see nothing
+relevant to your package simply continue with your bug report. 
+
+=head2 3. Finished bug report
+
+Finally an RFP bug report will come up in an editor where you can fill
+in necessary details so that the CPAN module can be package for
+debian. If you want you can CC the debian-perl group who maintain
+CPAN modules for debian with this line somewhere in the header of the
+email:
+
+X-Debbugs-CC: debian-perl at lists.debian.org
+
+Once your RFP bug is filed, you will get an acknowledgement of your
+bug report to the email address you submitted and a bug number will
+be assigned with which you can track the progress of the module as it
+makes its way into debian. Once the finished package is complete that
+bug should get automatically closed and you should get a report
+saying so.
+
+=head1 License
+
+Copyright (c) 2007, 2008 Debian Perl Group.  All rights reserved. This document
+is free software; you may redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms
+as Perl itself
+
+Perl is distributed under your choice of the GNU General Public License or the
+Artistic License.  On Debian GNU/Linux systems, the complete text of the GNU
+General Public License can be found in `/usr/share/common-licenses/GPL' and the
+Artistic License in `/usr/share/common-licenses/Artistic'.




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