I was just wondering -- is there a policy on using bits of Debian packages in Fedora packages? As a concrete example, if Debian has already packaged a Java library and has written a build.xml file (essentially, a Makefile) for building it, am I allowed to include that file in my package? Should I apply the whole Debian patch (complete with upstream URL) and then copy the build.xml to where it needs to be, or can I just grab the build.xml file itself and include it as a source?
Thanks for any suggestions,
MEF
"MEF" == Mary Ellen Foster mefoster@gmail.com writes:
MEF> I was just wondering -- is there a policy on using bits of Debian MEF> packages in Fedora packages?
Why wouldn't you? Unless those bits are somehow non-free (which would be surprising given their source) or somehow something else restricts you from using them, you should try to make things as easy as possible on yourself and not duplicate work needlessly.
Do credit the original source in comments in your spec even if you can't provide a full URL, just so folks who know where it came from if they happen to look at the package.
- J<
On Sat, Oct 24, 2009 at 03:21:23PM +0100, Mary Ellen Foster wrote:
I was just wondering -- is there a policy on using bits of Debian packages in Fedora packages?
You mean a policy like "Not stealing from `antagonist' projects"? I don't think there is. As long as the general requirements are OK (licenses, not forbidden items, etc.) you can use any bits you need.
As a concrete example, if Debian has already packaged a Java library and has written a build.xml file (essentially, a Makefile) for building it, am I allowed to include that file in my package? Should I apply the whole Debian patch (complete with upstream URL) and then copy the build.xml to where it needs to be, or can I just grab the build.xml file itself and include it as a source?
Whatever makes more sense from a technical POV, but keep any author info pointing to Debian intact (e.g. add your own if you modify something, but don't remove any other author). You could even honour the import in a %changelog like to make it easier to identify the origin.
Hi,
On Sat, Oct 24, 2009 at 7:51 PM, Mary Ellen Foster mefoster@gmail.comwrote:
Should I apply the whole Debian patch (complete with upstream URL)
Debian uses dpatch , how it can be applied in fedora? Any dpatch to diff converters available? I have a situation here https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=530090 ;
2009/10/24 Mary Ellen Foster mefoster@gmail.com:
I was just wondering -- is there a policy on using bits of Debian packages in Fedora packages? As a concrete example, if Debian has already packaged a Java library and has written a build.xml file (essentially, a Makefile) for building it, am I allowed to include that file in my package? Should I apply the whole Debian patch (complete with upstream URL) and then copy the build.xml to where it needs to be, or can I just grab the build.xml file itself and include it as a source?
Thanks for any suggestions,
Not only is thsi a good idea, but there are ways to take this further. We had a little distro mini summit at the Google Summer of Code Mentor Summit, and i think the one big takeaway impression i had is that we would all like to see more cooperation between distros. With that in mind, why not also email the debian maintainer(s) and let him/her/them know you're copying their file. Then offer to collaborate in the future. If you can at least keep each other informed about possible changes either of you need to make, it means we'll have better and more consistent packages in both Fedora and Debian.
-Yaakov
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Arun SAG -
Axel Thimm -
Jason L Tibbitts III -
Mary Ellen Foster -
Ville Skyttä -
Yaakov Nemoy