Managing 666 packages, or how to tame the beast
Channel: DebConf Videos
Date: 2017-11-24

by Martín Ferrari

At: DebConf8
http://penta.debconf.org/dc8_schedule/events/226.en.html
https://debconf8.debconf.org/

Introducing PET, a tool to track packages' health

PET (Package Entropy Tracker) is a collection of scripts that gather
information about your (or your group's) packages, based on the SVN repository,
but reaching many external sources. It allows you to see in a bird's eye view
the health of hundreds of packages, instantly realizing where work is needed.

Maintaining one of the largest set of packages in Debian, the Debian Perl Group
needed a tool for sorting the work, showing progress made by other
members and easing the sponsoring of uploads, as many active members of the
group aren't DDs.

Based on previous ad-hoc scripts, PET was written almost from scratch with the
idea of making it usable by other packaging groups, and it even is useful
for individuals tracking their own packages. It separates completely
presentation from data retrieval, and its modular structure allows to create
easily new sources of data and checks. (For more information, see
http://wiki.debian.org/Teams/DebianPerlGroup/DebianQA)

Today it helps a small group of people maintain over seven hundred packages (we
passed the 666 mark recently, so the joke is already old) without going insane.

Main functions:
* track new upstream versions
* show which packages prepared by non-DDs are ready for upload
* highlight several problems with packages and repo organisation
* follow uploaded packages' journey to the archive
* and lots of information packed in one place

This talk will introduce this tool, show how it's best used and a bit about its
internals so you can customize it (and contribute patches!).

Room: Salon del mar
Scheduled start: 2008-08-11 11:00:00