On Sat 06 Jun 2009 at 14:05:10 +0200, Martin Pitt wrote: > Package: wnpp > Severity: normal > > Hello all, > > cups is in severe need for a dedicated Debian maintainer. I became an > uploader some years ago for more efficient integration of > improvements/fixes done in Ubuntu, but now I have been the only > uploader for 1.5 years. I cleaned up the patch mess, brought the > package and test suite into a well working state, follow up on RC > bugs, and prepare most security updates; Till Kamppeter is developing > the PDF filters. > > However, that's not enough. Neither Till nor I have a Debian unstable > as primary workstation where we could test printing in a real Debian > system, and neither of us has time to look at the Debian bug reports. > > Right now, cups has hundreds of bug reports, many of them years old; > many of them were probably fixed long ago, many aren't problems in > cups but some driver (gutenprint, foomatic, ghostscript). > > To get the Debian cups bugs into some useful state again, someone who > knows the Linux printing system very well needs to sit down and write > a comprehensive "how to debug printing problems" document: in > particular, how to identify in which package the problem is, which > debug information to collect, and common workarounds/tests which help > the reporter's immediate problem and are useful for diagnosis. > > Then we can declare a "bug bancrupcy" and mass-close all bugs which > were filed before the Lenny release, with an honest apology and the > request to re-file bugs again with following the debugging document. > For all newer bugs we can just followup with the debugging document. > > On the plus side, cups' upstream Mike Sweet is very responsive. It > takes some dispassionateness to argue with him about patches and > rejected bug reports, but he responds very fast. So the genuine > problems remaining in the Debian BTS should be spoonfed to upstream, > after making sure that it isn't a Debian specific or driver problem. > > I'm happy to continue basic package maintenance as pointed out above, > do sponsoring, and mentor interested newcomers. You don't need to be a > DD, but you should have a printer or two, use Debian unstable > regularly, and willing to learn about the printing architecture (cups > spooler, drivers, etc.). > > Many thanks in advance,
[...] This bug report should be closed. For a number of years Didier 'OdyX' Raboud has been the dedicated Debian maintainer of cups and other packages and kept them in excellent shape with timely package uploads and attention to detail. The printing team's activities have also run smoothly. The "hundreds of bug reports" have been reduced to a handful and the wiki and cups documentation have been transformed. Regards, Brian.
