[Mageia-dev] Missing packages in Mageia 1. How to backport?

[Maarten Vanraes]

Op zaterdag 11 juni 2011 16:55:00 schreef Samuel Verschelde:
> Le samedi 11 juin 2011 14:26:19, Maarten Vanraes a écrit :
> > Op zaterdag 11 juni 2011 13:14:29 schreef Samuel Verschelde:
> > > Le samedi 11 juin 2011 12:06:55, Christiaan Welvaart a écrit :
> > > > On Fri, 10 Jun 2011, Michael Scherer wrote:
> > > > > We can agree that everybody want something newer for some rpms, but
> > > > > few people want everything to be newer ( ie, now one run backports
> > > > > as a update media, I think ). So as much as I am against asking to
> > > > > users questions, we must show them the choice somewhere, in a non
> > > > > obstrusive way.
> > > > 
> > > > Maybe, but how would be "support" this? We must be able to reproduce
> > > > a reported problem. This becomes complicated when we don't know what
> > > > is installed on the user's system. A guideline for bug reporters is
> > > > (or should be) "make sure you installed the latest updates". What
> > > > would be the equivalent for backports? I'm afraid it should be "if
> > > > you installed any backports, make sure you installed all backports
> > > > that are relevant for your system". If someone has a problem with
> > > > any other combination, the bug report might be rejected. How would
> > > > QA even work when only selected packages are upgraded from
> > > > backports, or integration testing: integration with what?
> > > > 
> > > > So the only combinations we can support are:
> > > >    - release + updates
> > > >    - release + updates + backports
> > > > 
> > > > More practical: for mga1 I have a VM that I can keep updated. For
> > > > mga1 backports I can install another VM with backports enabled. But
> > > > for bugs reported with only selected backports installed I suppose I
> > > > would have to install a new VM with mga1, update it, and install
> > > > only those backports -
> > > 
> > > > for each bug report. But maybe I'm missing something, please explain. 
(:
> > > If we suppose that either updates or backports are supported (with a
> > > support level to be defined), the situation is simpler to me :  a good
> > > backport must work  with all its dependencies coming from updates or
> > > release OR it must explicitly require higher versions, found only in
> > > the backports media and so automatically pulled.
> > > 
> > > So I don't think that having picked up only certain backported packages
> > > is a problem for the maintainer's support. Maybe I over-simplified the
> > > situation, but I don't think it will be as complex as you say.
> > > 
> > > Samuel
> > 
> > imho this creates more work for packagers or qa team to support
> > backports, i'm not really in favor of this solution
> 
> So it someone has a problem with a package you backported and reports it in
> bugzilla, you'll answer "not supported" and close the door ? Then we have
> not a single chance to have users accept to use backports rather than ask
> for a rolling release (supposing that we want to stay with stable releases
> model, which hasn't been decided yet).
> 
> In my opinion, a backport must be either supported or not exist. Even in
> Mandriva, where everybody keep saying "backports ain't supported", usually
> people try to solve the problems caused by backports.
> 
> However, the level of support can be different between backports and
> updates, as I said in my previous message. The differences are yet to
> define, but here are some I see :
> - when a critical bug in a backport exists, you can simply update to a
> newer version and see if it's solved
> - if the program already is in its the latest version and has an upstream
> bug, you can answer "report the bug upstream" and stop there until
> upstream solves the bug. For packages in release or updates, ideally you
> have to try to help fixing it or work it around because the bug is
> considered part of the whole distribution.
> 
> Best regards
> 
> Samuel

What about security fixes? if there's 1 version in release and 10 in backports? 
do the older backported packages have to be securitypatched?

imho not supported backports means that if backports has an issue, try a newer 
backports...

imho that is a good level, that doesn't require much effort.