vek
December 27th, 2007, 03:29 PM
Hi there.
I've been using linux/ubuntu for a while now, and have managed to get a couple patches together. Mostly small fixes, since I spend most of my time using the operating system to get done, not tinkering with it or fixing it, unless something is in the way. (Sorry).
Sometimes I submit a patch upstream, but I've found that most of the time, the patch just sits there, because the particular project is dead, or the maintainer (upstream) doesn't actually maintain it anymore.
I'm just wondering what the procedure is, in those situations, when ubuntu is using a project that the upstreamer maintainer hasn't really touched in years, and the patches are piling up in that projects upstream repository, but aren't ever accepted or used.
Sure, I can just keep the patches to myself and reapply them every time I upgrade / reinstall. But that seems to defeat the whole community-based linux open source thing, doesn't it?
So as a matter of curiosity, when upstream is dead, but things still need fixing, what happens? Do the ubuntu packages have their own layers of patches they apply after or in addition to upstream patches in this scenario? If so, where do they go? I've asked around the IRC and generally just get told to "Submit it upstream". But what if upstream is dead?
I've been using linux/ubuntu for a while now, and have managed to get a couple patches together. Mostly small fixes, since I spend most of my time using the operating system to get done, not tinkering with it or fixing it, unless something is in the way. (Sorry).
Sometimes I submit a patch upstream, but I've found that most of the time, the patch just sits there, because the particular project is dead, or the maintainer (upstream) doesn't actually maintain it anymore.
I'm just wondering what the procedure is, in those situations, when ubuntu is using a project that the upstreamer maintainer hasn't really touched in years, and the patches are piling up in that projects upstream repository, but aren't ever accepted or used.
Sure, I can just keep the patches to myself and reapply them every time I upgrade / reinstall. But that seems to defeat the whole community-based linux open source thing, doesn't it?
So as a matter of curiosity, when upstream is dead, but things still need fixing, what happens? Do the ubuntu packages have their own layers of patches they apply after or in addition to upstream patches in this scenario? If so, where do they go? I've asked around the IRC and generally just get told to "Submit it upstream". But what if upstream is dead?