+packaging list Thank you for taking the time to describe your challenges. I am adding the packaging list as they are in a position to help with some of these issues and to consider where more docs may be useful. I am not sure how to help on the package reviews side. I personally only have one package in Fedora and my role in the project made it easy to find a reviewer. But, you shouldn't have to be the FCAIC to make getting a reviewer easy. I know that we are working on more automation in these areas to make review less human-labor intensive. However, that doesn't help you today. I hope we will hear some news from FPC about this. regards, bex On Thu, Sep 27, 2018 at 10:40 PM Alain Vigne <alain.vigne.14@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > Hi, I am Alain, FAS: avigne > > As discussed today in #fedora-devel, here is some feedback about my experience trying to join Fedora as a contributor -> packager. > > TLDR: Adding a new package and become a Fedora packager is NOT easy. > > I am not a computer scientist, but as an Integrated Circuit designer, I am using eCAD proprietary tools heavily. > With my years of experience, I came up to know how to use Fedora, and I like this distro because it is reliable, and fairly up to date with software technologies. > > When Fedora FEL spin was alive, I picked up some tools, and slowly learn how to use them. gEDA, PCB, NGspice, GerbV, etc... > At some point, 2 years ago, I thought Open Source world gave me a lot, it was time to give back... So I contacted the pcb-rnd project [1], and started to contribute code around GTK, and GUI aspects of the application. > > Naturally, as I am developing with a Fedora system, I thought it could be nice to have pcb-rnd for Fedora... I had no clue on how to proceed, and first, I tried to find someone who can do that for me... > Found no one. (I should have known :). > > Time passes by, and one day a pcb-rnd Mageia contributor showed me the .spec file he wrote for Mageia. I was curious about what was behind all those commands and how this "recipe" (the .spec file) can lead to a package. > So I dug into the documentation (mainly Fedora wiki) learning how to first build an RPM, then after a successful local "mock", my curiosity was satisfied. I thought I understood the purpose of those tools (rpmbuild, rpmlint, mock). > > That is when I started to think about contributing this package to Fedora. "It should be easy, I have the recipe, I just need to find where to check-in the .spec file..." Easy thought, no ? > Unfortunately, no, this is not easy. > > First, there are tons of pages describing the process, and what to do. In theory the process is well described. > In practice, I got stuck in the "need a sponsor" phase where I think there is kinda chicken-and-egg problem for a new contributor. > > I might detail that, later, if someone is interested in this list. > > My feeling today, 6 months after I jumped in the unknown is not very much positive: > I had to register, open accounts, leave traces on many systems before being able to .... get nothing at the moment > > Bugzilla > FAS > COPR > mailing list > Freenode registration > > etc... > I feel like someone who has a complicated map under the eyes, walk, try and error to make sense of the map, up to a point where the map says: next step is "find a sponsor" and I have no idea how this is being done. > And time passes by... Slowly. I am silently ignored. > > Somebody says today : "Do informal reviews [a suggestion on the wiki, but what can I suggest ? I have no experience ->chicken and egg problem], make some mails, fill some bugs and you will get noticed". > I think this is the problem: nobody noticed, it seems nobody cares having a new volunteer. > > So, I am concluding: Fedora = too big ship, mainly automated, with a lot of processes (procedures, way of working) and a community not open to new contributors [I recall, my experience is only about contributing a new package], because this is too complicated (which I agree and understand). > > That said, I am a patient man, and I have done all this travel not to being stop by a wall. I spent my life trying to get around, over, across... so many walls, so, I won't surrender here ! > Thanks for reading till that point, and let us open the debate. > > Kind regards > Alain > PS: I am French, not EN native speaker, pardon my language if it does not make sense to you. > > [1] http://repo.hu/projects/pcb-rnd/ > > > -- > Alain V. > _______________________________________________ > fedora-join mailing list -- fedora-join@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > To unsubscribe send an email to fedora-join-leave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > Fedora Code of Conduct: https://getfedora.org/code-of-conduct.html > List Guidelines: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines > List Archives: https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/fedora-join@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -- Brian (bex) Exelbierd | bexelbie@xxxxxxxxxx | bex@xxxxxxxxx Fedora Community Action & Impact Coordinator @bexelbie | http://www.winglemeyer.org _______________________________________________ packaging mailing list -- packaging@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe send an email to packaging-leave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Fedora Code of Conduct: https://getfedora.org/code-of-conduct.html List Guidelines: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines List Archives: https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/packaging@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
