Bug#908155: Coordination with upstream developers not universally applied

"Serafeim (Serafi) Zanikolas" <[email protected]> Sun, 03 May 2026 22:36:30 +0200

Newsgroups	gmane.linux.debian.devel.policy
Message-ID	<DI9BW48O2S4R.266Z9GGBG9U9I__38005.6247509614$1777840657$gmane$org@debian.org>

tags 908155 + patch
thanks,

hi,

here's a patch for #908155, which (given the textual overlap) also includes the
(previously sent) patch for #757274.

wrt #908155:

- Ian's proposed wording about forwarding upstream issues and Wouter's about
  bts-link have both been included under "Coordination with upstream developers"
  as of 3.4.23
- the proposed patch removes the "regression" pointed out by Moritz (under "Bug
  housekeeping"; might already have been there, rather than having been
  introduced by 3.4.23), in favor of guidance in "Coordination with upstream
  developers"

thanks,
serafi

0001-developer-duties-pkgs-point-upstream-to-Debian-packa.patch (text/x-patch, 2.7 KB)

From 0b83a8076e3ed717bb548d9bea83ecb36b3d6476 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "Serafeim (Serafi) Zanikolas" <[email protected]>
Date: Sun, 3 May 2026 21:34:26 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] developer-duties, pkgs: point upstream to Debian package
 tracker subscriptions, and consolidate guidance about upstream issues. Closes
 #757274, #908155.

---
 source/developer-duties.rst |  4 +++-
 source/pkgs.rst             | 11 ++++-------
 2 files changed, 7 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)

diff --git a/source/developer-duties.rst b/source/developer-duties.rst
index 5ab0cff..e4c4271 100644
--- a/source/developer-duties.rst
+++ b/source/developer-duties.rst
@@ -90,7 +90,9 @@ with the upstream developers. Debian users will sometimes report bugs
 that are not specific to Debian to our bug tracking system. These bug
 reports should be forwarded to the upstream developers so that they can
 be fixed in a future upstream release. Usually it is best if you can do
-this, but alternatively, you may ask the bug submitter to do it.
+this, but alternatively, you may ask the bug submitter to do it. Ideally, you
+also get upstream to :ref:`subscribe <pkg-subscription>` for Debian Package
+Tracker notifications for their software in Debian.
 
 While it's not your job to fix non-Debian specific bugs, you may freely
 do so if you're able. When you make such fixes, be sure to pass them on
diff --git a/source/pkgs.rst b/source/pkgs.rst
index bd48444..db9e8b5 100644
--- a/source/pkgs.rst
+++ b/source/pkgs.rst
@@ -724,13 +724,10 @@ Here's a list of steps that you may follow to handle a bug report:
 6. If the bug is related to the packaging, you just fix it. If you are
    not able to fix it yourself, then tag the bug as ``help``. You can
    also ask for help on ``[email protected]`` or
-   ``[email protected]``. If it's an upstream problem, you have
-   to forward it to the upstream author. Forwarding a bug is not enough,
-   you have to check at each release if the bug has been fixed or not.
-   If it has, you just close it, otherwise you have to remind the author
-   about it. If you have the required skills you can prepare a patch
-   that fixes the bug and send it to the author at the same time. Make
-   sure to send the patch to the BTS and to tag the bug as ``patch``.
+   ``[email protected]``. See :ref:`upstream-coordination` if it's an
+   upstream problem. If you have the required skills you can prepare a patch
+   that fixes the bug and send it to the author at the same time. Make sure to
+   send the patch to the BTS and to tag the bug as ``patch``.
 
 7. If you have fixed a bug in your local copy, or if a fix has been
    committed to the VCS repository, you may tag the bug as ``pending``
-- 
2.47.3

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