TeamDelegation
Delegation of Ubuntu development teams
Traditionally, Ubuntu developers gained upload access through a two-tier system of ubuntu-core-dev (full access) and motu (universe and multiverse components). However, this meant that experts in particular fields often had to spend time on areas they weren't very interested in, in order to demonstrate enough general capability to be added to one of these teams.
We are now moving towards a finer-grained system for this, which makes it easier to grant access to specialist developers. The ability to grant upload access to parts of Ubuntu, divided up by source packages, can be delegated to responsible and well-organised development teams. As of the time of writing (December 2009), this is still a relatively new feature and we're still exploring its effects, but several teams are now using this system with reasonable success.
Which teams can take part?
If your team manages an Ubuntu flavour (e.g. Kubuntu, Xubuntu, etc.) which already has its own seeds, then this is straightforward.
If your team manages something less structured (e.g. "games" or "chemistry packages"), then at the moment you'll be breaking new ground, but we can still discuss it.
We will expect teams applying for this system to be well-organised and to already have good standing in the Ubuntu development community. If you're just looking to get upload access to a few packages, you may be better off applying for per-package upload access.
How does delegation work?
The packages your team should be able to upload will be aggregated into a "package set" in Launchpad, and a permission entry will be added for your team. You can inspect existing permissions using the edit_acl.py tool in bzr co lp:ubuntu-archive-tools. In the case of an Ubuntu flavour, the contents of the package set will be managed semi-automatically by archive administrators; in other cases it will be managed manually by somebody (TODO: not quite sure who yet; we'll work this out once teams actually start applying for this).
We may grant your team's administrators the ability to grant upload access to parts of Ubuntu. In this event, we'll want to make sure that you're acting in general accordance with how other teams work. The following are the basic requirements:
- Applications should be announced to an appropriate publicly-readable mailing list, to provide an opportunity for feedback.
Successful applications, or administrator additions, must be announced to devel-permissions@lists.ubuntu.com and to an appropriate publicly-readable mailing list for the team.
developer-membership-board must be a co-administrator of your team.
ubuntu-core-dev must be a member of your team (TODO was this agreed?).
Applicants must meet the general requirements for specialist Ubuntu developers.
- Your team must maintain a wiki page describing your policy for granting upload access, and any special requirements for team membership.
If not, applicants will follow the standard application process.
If your team is ready to take part in this system, contact the DeveloperMembershipBoard.