Hello all,

I have used Debian as my core-everything for many years now. And I’m very happy about Debian. I am a sw developer mainly focused on perl. I have used many languages and I always find that perl is really the place for me. I presently work with perl and Debian professionally.

For some time I have considered I could also contribute a bit, maybe I have something that could help Debian as Debian has helped me so much.

I know that some important packages, related to dpkg written in perl. I
have only started reading the "Debian Packaging Tutorial" yesterday.

Could anyone show me some directions? Where could I start?
$thx++;
João

<div dir="ltr">Hello all,<br><div><div><br></div><div>I have used Debian as my core-everything for many years now. And I’m very happy about
Debian. I am a sw developer mainly focused on perl. I have used many
languages and I always find that perl is really the place for me. I
presently work with perl and Debian professionally. <br></div><div><div style="padding-top:5px">

<p style="margin-top:0px;border:0px none">For some time I have considered I could
also contribute a bit, maybe I have something that could help Debian as
Debian has helped me so much.<br></p><p style="margin-top:0px;border:0px none">I know that some
important packages, related to dpkg written in
perl. I have only started reading the &quot;Debian Packaging Tutorial&quot; yesterday.<br></p>

<p style="margin-top:0px;border:0px none">Could anyone show me some directions? Where could I start?<br>

$thx++;<br>

João</p><p style="margin-top:0px;border:0px none"><br></p></div></div></div></div>

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Olà!

On Wed, 2020-04-15 at 09:37:14 +0100, Joao Miguel Ferreira wrote:

For some time I have considered I could also contribute a bit, maybe I have something that could help Debian as Debian has helped me so much.

Great!

I know that some important packages, related to dpkg written in perl. I
have only started reading the "Debian Packaging Tutorial" yesterday.

Yeah, libdpkg-perl and dpkg-dev are all mostly in perl. These are the
packages that deal mostly with source packages and building them.

Could anyone show me some directions? Where could I start?

I'm not sure whether I'll have enough time or energy to do continued guidance/mentoring. But we can try. :)

Ok, so given that most of what is in dpkg requires understanding about packaging in general and specifically how the packaging toolchain
operates, beginning by reading the documentation is a good start. I'd
recommend also covering the Debian policy, even though dpkg in many
cases is catered for other systems than Debian and is thus (or it should)
not necessarily be restricted by Debian specifics. Also if you find
yourself wondering about things that are not clear from dpkg
documentation (man pages, POD, the wiki etc), I'd be glad to hear so
that we can improve those.

Once you think you've good these covered, you could check:

<https://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Dpkg/Contribute>

Personally I find that scratching your own itch works best, but if you
are not maintaining packages, that might be difficult to come by.
Perhaps a good way to get started with the code base could be to
improve the coverage by adding/extending unit tests?

<https://www.dpkg.org/coverage/scripts/coverage.html>

Otherwise perhaps a good initial task might be the Dpkg::Checksums
one from?

<https://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Dpkg/Task/PerlAPICleanup>

In general, I find that email requires more energy, as it feels more
formal and final, so perhaps you might want to join the #debian-dpkg
IRC channel on OFTC if you are into that.

Thanks,
Guillem

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Olá Guillem,

On Sun, Apr 19, 2020 at 6:21 PM Guillem Jover <guillem@debian.org> wrote:

Olà!

I'm not sure whether I'll have enough time or energy to do continued guidance/mentoring. But we can try. :)

Thank you :)

Once you think you've good these covered, you could check:

<https://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Dpkg/Contribute>

Personally I find that scratching your own itch works best, but if you
are not maintaining packages, that might be difficult to come by.

Yes, I understand. I think that it will come naturally, in time

Perhaps a good way to get started with the code base could be to
improve the coverage by adding/extending unit tests?

<https://www.dpkg.org/coverage/scripts/coverage.html>

Yes, I'm a fan of unit testing and code coverage.
I also use Devel::Cover in my projects.
I find that writing tests is an excellent way to dive into a new project.
I did that many times. That would be the place to start, great.

Otherwise perhaps a good initial task might be the Dpkg::Checksums
one from?

<https://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Dpkg/Task/PerlAPICleanup>

I'll have a look into it, during my unit testing, and understand the issue

In general, I find that email requires more energy, as it feels more
formal and final, so perhaps you might want to join the #debian-dpkg
IRC channel on OFTC if you are into that.

I have never used IRC before but I will give it a try, during next week

Thanks,
Guillem

Thanks
Joao

<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div>Olá Guillem,</div><div><br></div></div><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sun, Apr 19, 2020 at 6:21 PM Guillem Jover &lt;<a href="mailto:guillem@debian.org">guillem@debian.org</a>&gt; wrote:<

</div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">Olà!<br>

<br></blockquote><div><br></div><div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
I&#39;m not sure whether I&#39;ll have enough time or energy to do continued<br>
guidance/mentoring. But we can try. :)<br></blockquote><div> </div><div>Thank you :) <br></div><div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<br>Once you think you&#39;ve good these covered, you could check: </blockquote><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
  &lt;<a href="https://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Dpkg/Contribute" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Dpkg/Contribute</a>&gt;<br>

Personally I find that scratching your own itch works best, but if you<br>
are not maintaining packages, that might be difficult to come by.<br></blockquote><div>Yes, I understand. I think that it will come naturally, in time<br></div><div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px
solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
Perhaps a good way to get started with the code base could be to<br>
improve the coverage by adding/extending unit tests?<br>

  &lt;<a href="https://www.dpkg.org/coverage/scripts/coverage.html" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.dpkg.org/coverage/scripts/coverage.html</a>&gt;<br></blockquote><div><br></div><div>Yes, I&#39;m a fan of unit testing and code coverage.</

<div>I also use Devel::Cover in my projects.</div><div>I find that writing tests is an excellent way to dive into a new project.</div><div>I did that many times. That would be the place to start, great.<br></div><div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_

quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">

Otherwise perhaps a good initial task might be the Dpkg::Checksums<br>
one from?<br>

  &lt;<a href="https://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Dpkg/Task/PerlAPICleanup" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Dpkg/Task/PerlAPICleanup</a>&gt;<br></blockquote><div><br></div><div>I&#39;ll have a look into it, during my unit
testing, and understand the issue<br></div><div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">

In general, I find that email requires more energy, as it feels more<br>
formal and final, so perhaps you might want to join the #debian-dpkg<br>
IRC channel on OFTC if you are into that.<br></blockquote><div><br></div><div>I have never used IRC before but I will give it a try, during next week<br></div><div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px
solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">

Thanks,<br> Guillem<br></blockquote><div><br></div><div>Thanks</div><div>Joao</div><div><br></div></div></div>

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