"Being a port maintainer" document

[Sam Lawrance]

Matt Mills wrote:

> Kris Kennaway wrote:
>
>> I'd like to put out a general call for people to volunteer to maintain
>> our unmaintained ports -- this is a great way for users to "give
>> something back" to FreeBSD and help out the project -- but we need
>> some form of document we can show them that lists the rights and
>> responsibilities of port maintainers, so they have an idea of what's
>> expected from them.  The porters' handbook does a good job of
>> describing the details of constructing a port, but not the
>> higher-level aspects of being a port maintainer.
>
>
> Obviously, I may be about to ask questions that appear in the document 
> in question, but I'll take that risk as there are some ports I could 
> maintain.
>
> What skills does a port maintainer need to have? For instance, is it 
> enough to be proficient with the software, to have basic system 
> administration skills and an understanding of how the ports tree 
> works, or is there some programming involved?

That's a good question. It's not answered directly in the current 
porter's handbook, but a browse through it should give you a good 
indication of what you need to do.

> I presume the latter as I would guess that the maintainers provide 
> patches for ports that do not compile out of the box. I have some very 
> basic C/C++ skills but am reluctant to take on maintainership(?) of 
> any ports for fear of lack of skill.
>
There's a great way to find out; pick some unmaintained ports you'd like 
to maintain, see if they need fixing or updating and give it a whirl. If 
you get stuck there are plenty of people here to assist you :)

-- 
Sam Lawrance    ph +61 0425 228 579    freenode: deft