1 Debian Policy changes process
2 =============================
4 .. _process-introduction:
9 To introduce a change in the current Debian Policy, the change proposal
10 has to go through a certain process. [#]_
12 .. _process-change-goals:
17 - The change should be technically correct, and consistent with the
18 rest of the policy document. This means no legislating the value of
19 π. This also means that the proposed solution be known to work;
20 iterative design processes do not belong in policy.
22 - The change should not be too disruptive; if very many packages become
23 instantly buggy, then instead there should be a transition plan.
24 Exceptions should be rare (only if the current state is really
25 untenable), and probably blessed by the TC.
27 - The change has to be reviewed in depth, in the open, where any one
28 may contribute; a publicly accessible, archived, open mailing list.
30 - Proposal should be addressed in a timely fashion.
32 - Any domain experts should be consulted, since not every policy
33 mailing list subscriber is an expert on everything, including policy
36 - The goal is rough consensus on the change, which should not be hard
37 if the matter is technical. Technical issues where there is no
38 agreement should be referred to the TC; non-technical issues should
39 be referred to the whole developer body, and perhaps general
40 resolutions lie down that path.
42 - Package maintainers whose packages may be impacted should have access
43 to policy change proposals, even if they do not subscribe to policy
44 mailing lists (policy gazette?).
51 Each suggested change goes through different states. These states are
52 denoted through either usertags of the debian-policy@packages.debian.org
53 user or, for ``patch``, ``pending``, and ``wontfix``, regular tags.
56 bugs <https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?src=debian-policy&pend-exc=done>`_
58 The Policy delegates are responsible for managing the tags on bugs and
59 will update tags as new bugs are submitted or as activity happens on
60 bugs. All Debian Developers should feel free to add the seconded tag as
61 described below. Other tags should be changed with the coordination of
64 .. _state-a-issue-raised:
69 Detect need, like gaps/flaws in current policy, or a new rule should be
70 added. Any user or developer may start this step. There is a decision
71 point here; not all issues are in scope of policy.
74 <https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?src=debian-policy&tag=issue>`_
76 What needs to happen next: If this is in scope for Policy, discuss the
77 issue and possible solutions, moving to the discussion tag, or if the
78 matter is sufficiently clear, go directly to a proposal for how to
79 address it, moving to the proposal tag. If this is not in scope for
80 Policy, close the bug.
82 .. _state-b-discussion:
87 Discuss remedy. Alternate proposals. Discussion guided by delegates.
88 There should be a clear time limit to this stage, but as yet we have not
92 <https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?src=debian-policy&pend-exc=done&tag=discussion>`_
94 What needs to happen next: Reach a conclusion and consensus in the
95 discussion and make a final proposal for what should be changed (if
96 anything), moving to the proposal tag.
103 A final proposal has emerged from the discussion, and there is a rough
104 consensus on how to proceed to resolve the issue.
107 <https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?src=debian-policy&pend-exc=done&tag=proposal>`_
109 What needs to happen next: Provided that the rough consensus persists,
110 develop a patch against the current Policy document with specific
111 wording of the change. Often this is done in conjunction with the
112 proposal, in which case one may skip this step and move directly to
115 .. _state-d-wording-proposed:
117 State D: Wording proposed
118 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
120 A patch against the Policy document reflecting the consensus has been
121 created and is waiting for formal seconds. The standard patch tag is
122 used for this state, since it's essentially equivalent to the standard
126 <https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?src=debian-policy&pend-exc=done&tag=patch>`_
128 What needs to happen next: The proposal needs to be reviewed and
129 seconded. Any Debian developer who agrees with the change and the
130 conclusion of rough consensus from the discussion should say so in the
131 bug log by seconding the proposal.
133 .. _state-e-seconded:
138 The proposal is signed off on by N Debian Developers. To start with,
139 we're going with N=3, meaning that if three Debian Developers agree, not
140 just with the proposal but with the conclusion that it reflects
141 consensus and addresses the original issue -- it is considered eligible
142 for inclusion in the next version of Policy. Since Policy is partly a
143 technical project governance method, one must be a Debian Developer to
144 formally second, although review and discussion is welcome from anyone.
145 Once this tag has been applied, the bug is waiting for a Policy team
146 member to apply the patch to the package repository.
149 <https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?src=debian-policy&pend-exc=done&tag=seconded>`_
151 What needs to happen next: A Policy maintainer does the final review and
152 confirmation, and then applies the patch for the next Policy release.
154 This tag is not used very much because normally a Policy maintainer
155 applies the patch and moves the proposal to the next state once enough
158 .. _state-f-accepted:
163 Change accepted, will be in next upload. The standard pending tag is
164 used for this state since it matches the regular meaning of pending.
167 <https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?src=debian-policy&pend-exc=done&tag=pending>`_
169 What needs to happen next: The bug is now in the waiting queue for the
170 next Policy release, and there's nothing left to do except for upload a
171 new version of Policy.
178 Rejected proposals. The standard wontfix is used for this state.
179 Normally, bugs in this state will not remain open; instead, a Policy
180 team member will close them with an explanation. The submitter may then
181 appeal to the tech-ctte if they so desire. Alternately, issues appealed
182 to the tech-ctte may remain open with this tag while that appeal
186 <https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?src=debian-policy&pend-exc=done&tag=rejected>`_
188 We may use one of the following tags here, but to date we have only used
189 dubious and ctte. It's not clear whether we need more tags for this
196 Referred to the Technical Committee (tech-ctte)
199 Referred to the developer body
202 Rejected by a Policy delegate
205 The proposal timed out without a conclusion
207 What needs to happen next: The bug should be closed once a final
208 resolution is reached, or retagged to an appropriate state if that final
209 resolution reverses the decision to reject the proposal.
211 .. _process-other-tags:
216 All Policy bugs are additionally categorized by class of bug.
218 The normative tag is used for bugs that make normative changes to
219 Policy, meaning that the dictates of Policy will change in some fashion
220 as part of the resolution of the bug if the proposal is accepted. The
221 full process is followed for such bugs.
224 <https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?src=debian-policy&pend-exc=done&tag=normative>`_
226 The informative tag is used for bugs about wording issues, typos,
227 informative footnotes, or other changes that do not affect the formal
228 dictates of Policy, just the presentation. The same tags are used for
229 these bugs for convenience, but the Policy maintainers may make
230 informative changes without following the full process. Informative bugs
231 fall under their discretion.
234 <https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?src=debian-policy&pend-exc=done&tag=informative>`_
236 The packaging tag is used for bugs about the packaging and build process
237 of the debian-policy Debian package. These bugs do not follow the normal
238 process and will not have the other tags except for pending and wontfix
239 (used with their normal meanings).
242 <https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?src=debian-policy&pend-exc=done&tag=packaging>`_
245 This process was originally developed by Margarita Manterola, Clint
246 Adams, Russ Allbery and Manoj Srivastava.