[xml/sgml] new packages for xerces23

[Jay Berkenbilt]

[This is the "previous message" I mentioned.  I never got my copy to
the list and don't see it in the archives.  I apologize if this is a
duplicate.  I originally sent this out late last night.]

------

Executive summary: I've repackaged xerces23 with cdbs and am ready to
check this into subversion on alioth.  The new packaging has this
gruop as the maintainer, is lintian and linda clean, and builds in
pbuilder.  It should also easy to port to xerces24 and xerces25; I
intend to do this right away.  I will need a sponsor to review and
upload these packages, and I'd like to get confirmation that it's okay
for me to put my changes into subversion.  A more detailed version of
what I just said follows. :-)

-------

A few weeks ago, I announced my intention to package xerces24 and
xerces25.  After a helpful exchange with Ivo, I decided at his
recommendation to look at using cdbs.  Today I finally had time (for
the first time in over two weeks) to get back to this project.

To be sure I knew what I was doing, I decided to first repackage the
existing xerces23 packages using cdbs.  I did this with several
reasons: it gives us a chance to set the maintainer to the group and
clear the NMU, I can do a file by file comparison of my new packages
with the old packages, and I can use the automated test suites of my
xerces-based software to make sure that the new packages work.  I have
done all these things and am quite confident that my new packages
produce results superior to the old packaging: they are identical
except that all the lintian warnings have been fixed and the standards
version has been brought up to 3.6.1.

My new packages are lintian and linda clean, they use cdbs but work
with the existing orig.tar.gz, and they build in pbuilder.  I think
the rules file is also nicer -- ./debian/rules build is useful now
because I've used a completely different strategy for building with
multiple configurations than the old packaging.

That said, I have several questions:

 * What should I do with this?  Shall I check my debian directory into
   subversion on alioth?

 * As per prior agreement, I have changed the maintainer and updated
   the version to a non-NMU version.  The maintainer field now shows:

Maintainer: Debian XML/SGML Group <debian-xml-sgml-pkgs@lists.alioth.debian.org>

   Of course, I can't upload these myself (not being a DD), so whoever
   does upload them will have to add their name to Uploaders.

Here's what I'd like to have happen:

 * I will check my debian/ directory into subversion and make sure
   that svn-buildpackage works to build these.

 * Someone can review and upload these.  That will clear the "NMU" on
   the xerces23 packages and change the maintainer to the group.

Once this is done, I can proceed to update libxml-xerces-perl to bring
it into the group as well, and more significantly, I can easily
package xerces24 and xerces25.  There's nothing in my new packaging
that's particularly specific to xerces23 except for "23" and "2_3_0"
each of which appears in the minimum possible number of places.

Berin Lautenbach, the maintainer of Xalan, agreed to sponsor these
packages.  Since he is not on this list, I thought I'd ask here
first. Should I contact him instead/in addition?

I'm also hoping that someone here will be willing to advocate for me
so I can submit my new maintainer application.  If anyone is willing
to consider this, I can share with you offline some of the other
things I've done that make me feel that I'm ready to apply.

Finally, I'll wrap up with what I'm going to do if I don't hear
anything.  (I've learned that this is a good idea!)  If I don't get
any responses within a few days, I'll go ahead with my plan to check
my changes into alioth.  Then I can send something out that the
packages can be built with svn-buildpackage.

Thanks!

-- 
Jay Berkenbilt <ejb@ql.org>
http://www.ql.org/q/

--qmime=_-20040418-120419-1728-72159---