Ports Request: OpenNMS

[Wesley Shields]

On Fri, Apr 11, 2008 at 01:08:51PM -0500, Paul Schmehl wrote:
> --On Friday, April 11, 2008 10:33:26 -0700 Mark Foster <mark at foster.cc> wrote:
> 
>> Paul Schmehl wrote:
>>> If you're really serious that you want OpenNMS ported, then it's time
>>> to make your contribution to FreeBSD.  :-)  Solicit help from other
>>> FreeBSD users who use/want OpenNMS, and work together to distribute
>>> the load and get the job done.  There's plenty of people on this list
>>> who can help you when you run into problems.
>>> 
>> I couldn't agree more!
>> But for the last statement. I have to say I've been underwhelmed with the
>> amount of maintainership support I have received from this
>> (ports at freebsd.org) list. Perhaps it's just me, I know the ports-mgr are also
>> very busy. Or in other cases the answer is just unknown.
>> So, as a maintainer I tend to ask google before bugging the list. Is a
>> dedicated maintainer-support list  something discussed before?

If you're having a specific problem with a port you should ask the
maintainer about it.  Maintainers are not _required_ to subscribe to
this list, though it is a good idea.  If the port is unmaintained you
will either have to ask her for help on what is going wrong or fix it
yourself (sad, but true).  We try to be as helpful as possible here but
you can't please everyone all the time.  :)

> I think this *is* the dedicated maintainer-support list.  :-)
> 
> It's been my experience that most of the questions I ask here are fairly 
> dumb and easily answered with a little research.  Perhaps that's why some 
> are slow to answer?  :-)
> 
> I discussed, one time, on this list, updating the porting handbook to more 
> accurately describe the process, but that too requires some work and a PR, 
> so I just haven't gotten to it yet.  (Which I suspect is everyone's 
> problem.)

The porter's handbook is a great resource, but it could certainly use
some cleanup and better organization.  I'd be happy to work with anyone
interested in brainstorming ideas and getting them implemented.  Either
on a new thread or privately.

> I try to help when I can, but I defer to more knowledgeable folks in most 
> cases.  I know that my porting skills have improved greatly since I first 
> started and *much* of what I've learned has come from other ports.  If you 
> want to know how to do a port, study the existing ports - especially ones 
> that are fairly complex, because those are *usually* done by very 
> knowledgeable people. (Mine are all relatively simple, mind you.)

Yes, looking at existing ports is a great resource.  If they can't give
you the right answer then asking here or Google will certainly get you
the right answer.

-- WXS