[pkg-kolab] Packaging plans for Kolab

Paul Boddie paul at boddie.org.uk
Sun Apr 27 21:39:40 UTC 2014


Hello,

Given the stream of recent mails regarding package builds, which I imagine 
means that Kolab is back in Debian for jessie...

https://packages.debian.org/search?keywords=kolab

...and for which congratulations are due, do those people who have managed to 
get Kolab included again have any views on bringing the packages up to parity 
with the upstream code and for supporting more recently developed upstream 
code?

Currently, there's a fair margin between the upstream versions and those 
packaged here for Debian. For example:

libkolab is 0.4.2 in Debian and 0.5.0 (or so) upstream
libkolabxml is 0.8.4 in Debian and 1.0.1 (or so) upstream

It would seem that beyond these fundamental packages, Kolab 2 and Kolab 3 
differ in terms of what provides the functionality and how it is packaged as a 
result. So is it likely that Debian will still provide Kolab 2 support whilst 
also seeking to support Kolab 3 through a different set of packages?

My personal impression is that some work still needs to be done upstream to 
support a convenient packaged experience of Kolab 3 for distributions like 
Debian (which is why I've attempted to develop some upstream code a bit 
further [1] and to improve the packages from the Kolab OBS repository for 
Debian [2]), but I'd be interested to hear the opinions of those already doing 
packaging, even if it is strictly for Kolab 2 and even if those responsible 
will have nothing to do with Kolab 3 for whatever reason.

What I'd most like to know is how might the work I've been doing be focused 
towards getting packages included in Debian, how should any separate Kolab 3 
packages deal with the above fundamental packages that might also support 
Kolab 2, and where else might I look for guidance if this list isn't going to 
provide any?

It seems like there is an opportunity to provide packages for Kolab 3 for 
Debian - day after day people seem to struggle with the existing packages - 
and I feel that although I've done something to work towards that goal, we're 
a long way short of delivering a better experience. How can I (and others) 
help improve this situation?

Paul

[1] http://git.kolab.org/pykolab/log/?h=dev/boddie
[2] http://www.boddie.org.uk/downloads/kolab/



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