Question about Port maintainership

[Simon Barner]

Matt Crossley wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> A couple of questions regarding port maintainership, etc.
> 
> 
> There is a port that I recently needed to install that I haven't used in
> quite some time (sysutils/autopsy). The port is quite outdated, and
> hasn't been updated since March, 2004. The version is at 1.73, whereas
> the actual application itself is up to Version 2.06, released in
> October, 2005.
> 
> I've sent the current maintainer an email asking if either he'd update
> the port, or if I could take over maintainership and do regular updates
> on the port. That was about 3 weeks ago, and I have heard no response
> from him. What should be my next step? Should I make a patch to update
> the Makefile and submit a PR? Or submit a change maintainer PR? I don't
> want ot step on anyone's toes, but it's been over a year since an update
> by the maintainer, and I'd like to pick up the slack.

Please file a PR with the update, then we can track it and update
the port via maintainer update (2 weeks) and - if necessary - reset an
unresponsive maintainer (3 months).

> 
> My next question has to do with an application that I think would be
> useful, but is not in the ports tree. It is a commercial, proprietary
> product that is free for download, without having to click and agreement
> or accept a EULA. I'd like to add this port, and I've contacted the
> company in question (over 1 week ago), but they have not responded yet.
> So I'm wondering what the policy is regarding adding ports where the
> developer or company has not explicitly approved this addition to the
> ports system. In many respects, it would be beneficial for them to have
> more exposure, but maybe they wouldn't appreciate it for some reason?
> Any guidelines there?

If you are unsure, please mark the port as RESTRICTED, so it will not
appear on CDROMs or FreeBSD FTP servers. In any case, mention the your
concerns in the PR when you submit the port.
> 
> I've started to go through the Porter's Handbook, and I'm looking
> forward to being able to make contributions, as minor as they are, to
> the growth of FreeBSD. :-)

Fine :-) Be sure to follow this list, too!

-- 
Best regards / Viele Grüße,                             barner at FreeBSD.org
 Simon Barner                                                barner at gmx.de
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 187 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-ports/attachments/20051126/9a410d77/attachment.bin