Introduction
Merge reviews are package reviews of packages that were already in Red Hat Linux or Fedora Core before the merge into Fedora.
Many of these packages were created before the current packaging guidelines were in place, or before some features were available in rpm or our build system.
In order to make sure they are all meeting these guidelines, we need to review them and get the packages up to match the ones that have been reviewed and imported since then.
How to find open merge reviews
You can find a list of all NEW reviews at: http://fedoraproject.org/PackageReviewStatus/NEW.html Merge reviews contain "Merge Review" in the subject.
Are there any different procedures for Merge reviews?
Yes, there are a few slight differences from regular package reviews:
- Look up the current package maintainer and co-maintainers via pkgdb: https://admin.fedoraproject.org/pkgdb/ and add them to the CC field on the bug.
Maintainers could well have changed since the merge review was filed, and some maintainers may not know the review is still pending.
- You should be able to review the package against the current HEAD revision in rawhide CVS. You can use the current rawhide package to check against.
- If you find that the package has some minor/non blocking/cosmetic issues you can offer to just make the changes in CVS for the maintainer, but only do
so if they have requested/approved you to do so. Major/Blocking issues should be handled by the maintainer/co-maintainers.
- You should examine open bugs on the package and see if any of them are related to the packaging. This is worth bringing up to the maintainer in the merge review, especially if some would be fixed by corrections suggested by the guidelines.
What should I do if a maintainer is non responsive?
- first make sure that the maintainer is in fact CC'ed on the bug. They may simply be unaware of it.
- Leave a reasonable amount of time. Many maintainers are busy and minor changes for a merge review are not something thats top priority.
- If the maintainer has not responded at all, try mailing the maintainer directly.
- If that still does not work, note to fedora-devel and/or fesco that the maintainer is unresponsive.