Quoting Ahmad Khalifa (2025-06-04 13:51:54) > On 04/06/2025 12:38, Marc Haber wrote: > > On Wed, Jun 04, 2025 at 12:24:15PM +0100, Ahmad Khalifa wrote: > >> On 04/06/2025 11:39, Otto Kekäläinen wrote: > >>> Lack of maintainer time is likely the reason why your > >>> https://salsa.debian.org/apache-team/apache2/-/merge_requests/43 went > >>> 8 months without a response. Some people in this thread suggested > >> ... > >> > >> > >> Separately, may I also suggest some kind of timeout on the RFH bugs? > >> (oldest is about to turn 20 yo) > >> > >> They are one of the first things people would look at and seeing stale > >> bugs abandoned is like having a welcome mat that says "no one is home". > > > > RFH bugs are kind of saying "help appreciated". That is still current > > even after 20 years especially if no one is home. > > You're not hearing the message. > > Joachim was mislead by an RFH. Even raised an MR and still got ignored. > I replied to an RFH bug, got ignored. Raised an MR and still got ignored > (my MR is only 5 months old, maybe still hope?). > > Clearly the maintainers are not ready for help. But I wasted time on > that junk.
I don't think the problem is that your message is not heard. I think the problem is that you (and this thread) views newcomers as central to the equation of maintaining packages, and with that optic you dismiss other views as being _also_ relevant. ...and let me pause right here and state loud and clear: Newcomers are very very important - we have all been new at some point, and Debian continue to need newcomers forever. I am *NOT* saying that newcomers are not important. Now, my point is that a bug tracker that is intuitive to operate for newcomers is great, but a bug tracker without that feature is not totally broken. Specifically, a hint of "this package needs help" is helpful, even if it might not be helpful for newcomers. You replying to an MR and getting ignored is not necessarily a sign that the package you acted on has proven that they are not in need of help. Could also be that they are in need of different kind of help that you offered. Or it could be that there is a mismatch in chemistry between you and those you reached out to. Which is not ideal, but also not simple to derive conclusions from. I wonder if I should flag all of the 700+ packages that I am involved in packaging as RFH, since I am in principle open for help. I have chosen not to do so, because I worry that I am not clever enough to "put people to work" if they showed up at my doorstep and offered to help out. I very much appreciate those who dare to ask for help, even if your can prove that they are in fact lousy at accepting help - it is hard. As you noticed yourself, some have tried literally for ages! - Jonas -- * Jonas Smedegaard - idealist & Internet-arkitekt * Tlf.: +45 40843136 Website: http://dr.jones.dk/ * Sponsorship: https://ko-fi.com/drjones [x] quote me freely [ ] ask before reusing [ ] keep private
