MotuApplication

I, Sudip Mukherjee, apply for MOTU.

I am applying because:

  • I'd like to eliminate delays in getting my work sponsored.
  • I'd like to reduce the burden on my sponsors.

Who I am

I am a Kernel Engineer at my $dayjob and maintain few drivers in upstream kernel. I am also a DD since 2020. I started using Linux with Ubuntu 10.04 when I was at my previous $dayjob. But being an enduser at that time I was fairly happy with what I had and never needed to poke anything in the system. But with my current $dayjob I started using Debian and had to work with different parts of the system, and as a result started contributing to Debian.

My Ubuntu story

Since I started my Linux use with Ubuntu, so I always wanted to contribute to Ubuntu after I started contributing to Debian. But I was always confused with Ubuntu contributions process. While in Ubuntu Summit 2023, few friends spent time explaining me the process and why Ubuntu has its own bug reports and why they need fixing. And that was the start, my first Ubuntu contribution (a SRU to one of my package in Debian) started in Riga.

I like working on all kind of bugs, and which is why I like contributing to Ubuntu as there is no maintainer concept here and every package is team maintained. So, I can choose any of the bugs reported by users (there are thousands of new bugs).

My involvement

Examples of my work / Things I'm proud of

* My Uploads (sponsored).

* Launchpad Uploaded Packages

* Packages in Sponsors Queue

* Debian Packages overview

Merges

* https://code.launchpad.net/~sudipmuk/ubuntu/+source/iwd/+git/iwd/+merge/460868

* https://code.launchpad.net/~sudipmuk/ubuntu/+source/iwd/+git/iwd/+merge/458736

* https://code.launchpad.net/~sudipmuk/ubuntu/+source/libmicrohttpd/+git/libmicrohttpd/+merge/460727

* https://code.launchpad.net/~sudipmuk/ubuntu/+source/lptools/+git/lptools/+merge/460236

* https://code.launchpad.net/~sudipmuk/ubuntu/+source/libtrace3/+git/libtrace3/+merge/457861

* https://code.launchpad.net/~sudipmuk/ubuntu/+source/zeitgeist/+git/zeitgeist/+merge/456270

Syncs requested

* https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2061315

* https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2042860

* https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2049284

* https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2049554

* https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2052559

* https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2054214

* https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2054610

* https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2058080

* https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2064773

Update dated 01/06/2024

Syncs requested

* https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2067101

* https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2067102

* https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2067224

* https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2067227

* https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2066466

* https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2067778

* https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2066196

* https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2066135

* https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2065626

* https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2065736

* https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2065731

* https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2065584

* https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2065503

Merges

* https://code.launchpad.net/~sudipmuk/ubuntu/+source/dublin-traceroute/+git/dublin-traceroute/+merge/465529

* https://code.launchpad.net/~sudipmuk/ubuntu/+source/matplotlib/+git/matplotlib/+merge/466268

* https://code.launchpad.net/~sudipmuk/ubuntu/+source/anki/+git/anki/+merge/466405

Transition

* A small transition of "ace" after the Debian transition was approved. <arraybolt3> triggered the no-change rebuilds for me.

Note: I just noticed that another rebuild was triggered after "ace" migrated from proposed to release.

Areas of work

I usually look for bugs in "universe" which has been reported by users, which sometimes leads me to fix the bug in Upstream, Debian and current development release. And, occassionally I will also look for FTBFS bugs in development release and merges (which I find quite interesting and liked the git-ubuntu workflow).

Things I could do better

I can definitely think of two points.

* For SRU uploads, I think I should spend more time/effort for the SRU test plan. I tend to give testplan which tests only the bug I am fixing in the SRU. An example will be #2029924, Robie asked to do some extra test as part of the verification and that failed. So, testplan is definitely something I need to do better.

* For uploads to current development release, I need to look carefully to the delta and decide if that is going to be a Merge or a Sync. Main problem in that is the Ubuntu delta sometimes does not have any reference to any bug reports or any comments. An example of such problem is #2049311.

Plans for the future

General

Continue to fix bugs in Universe. And possibly do more for the development release.

What I like least in Ubuntu

I said (in My Ubuntu story) that I like the concept of team maintained packages. But ironically, that is the triggger for the thing I like least in Ubuntu. During the course of all my bug hunting and SRUs I felt that packages in main gets immediate attention for any bug report but bug reports for packages in universe are neglected and left to rot.

An example will be #1876597, reported by multiple users in 2020. Even though the bug was fixed in Debian by 2021, but the Ubuntu bug was not fixed which I think is a bad impression on Ubuntu users who have spent their time to report the bug. So, overall this bug spent 4 years in Confirmed state and then spent 20 days in sponsors queue.

Note: I am not complaining about the 20 days delay, since I am in #ubuntu-devel and #ubuntu-release I can see everyone is super busy.

Comments

If you'd like to comment, but are not the applicant or a sponsor, do it here. Don't forget to sign with @SIG@.

Endorsements

As a sponsor, just copy the template below, fill it out and add it to this section.

Lena Voytek

General feedback

Sudip has done an incredible amount of work on various universe packages. Many previously neglected and often broken packages have been fixed from this effort. I've sponsored 4 separate packages for Sudip, 3 of which were SRUs. All were well documented and required minimal or no changes. Sudip has also been active on IRC, answering any questions when prompted. I think MOTU is a great next step.

Specific Experiences of working together

I sponsored the following packages for Sudip:

Areas of Improvement

I only have one nitpick improvement that I can think of. When providing a fix/update for a package, I'd recommend creating a PPA with the change so that users can test the fix prior to the final upload. Other than that I think the packaging work has been flawless.

Dave Jones

General feedback

I always look forward to seeing Sudip's name pop up on the sponsorship list during my patch pilot shifts. He's been very active in fixing several long-standing bugs in Universe, and while his contributions started out at a good quality, they're now some of the best I encounter on a regular basis. The test cases are always well written, and the patches minimal and well-sourced. MOTU is an ideal step for Sudip at this point, and his membership would certainly be a boon to the Ubuntu community too.

My only real concern in endorsing him for MOTU is whether the SRU team will be able to keep up!

Specific Experiences of working together

Some of the packages I've sponsored for Sudip (I'm not going to list everything for the sake of brevity):

Areas of Improvement

I concur with Lena's note that more frequent use of PPA's may be useful for testing, particularly on those builds which take an extended time or have cross-architectural fixes (I don't mind throwing a patch into a quick 5 minute build to check something, but sagemath takes hours to build :).

Simon Quigley

General feedback

I am happy to see Sudip finally apply for MOTU! In my experience sponsoring his packages, he picks high-impact bugs to fix, neglected Universe packages to maintain, and actually cares about contributing back upstream. This is admirable work, and I have looked forward to sponsoring his work when I see it in the queue.

It looks like I helped with much of his early sponsored work, where my only (since-resolved) concerns were around DEP-3 headers and version numbers. That being said, Sudip's uploads have been incredibly high-quality otherwise, and he iterates quickly when feedback is given on his patches.

I share Dave's only real concern that the SRU team will have a hard time keeping up! That being said, Sudip is someone who, in my opinion, deserves to be unblocked in his efforts.

Please grant Sudip MOTU permissions.

-- tsimonq2 2024-05-03 17:40:10

Specific experiences of working together

Graham Inggs

General feedback

I've sponsored 11 (and counting) uploads for Sudip. The quality has been excellent, and when there were questions, they were quickly answered. Sudip is ready for MOTU, right now.

Specific Experiences of working together

"Mirage segfaults immediately when run" LP: #1994145. Sudip found the problem, prepared a fix for Noble, SRUs for Mantic and Jammy and forwarded the fix upstream. The fix was merged upstream, and when it made it into Debian, Sudip requested a sync, dropping the delta LP: #2052559. Excellent work!

Areas of Improvement

I'd like to see Sudip work on transitions and FeatureFreeze exceptions, and hope to see a CoreDev application soon.

Benjamin Drung

General feedback

I sponsored 11 packages for Sudip (bug fixes, syncs, and one SRU). All of them were high quality and could be sponsored without needed changes despite me being very nitpicky. Sudip is ready for uploading the packages directly.

Specific Experiences of working together

The most prominent fix was for mtd-utils bug #2060214. I created the bug report as part of my +1 shift and failed to figure out the cause. Sudip figured out the reason for the failed test and provided a fix.

Full list: https://udd.debian.org/cgi-bin/ubuntu-sponsorships.cgi?render=html&sponsor=Benjamin+Drung&sponsor_search=name&sponsoree=Sudip+Mukherjee&sponsoree_search=name

Areas of Improvement

In case I have to be nitpicky: Sudip mentioned in the mtd-utils bug: "I have not forwarded the bug upstream as I am not sure if this should be a gcc bug or a bug in mtd-utils". I haven't seen this bug discussed with upstream to figure out if gcc or mtd-utils need to be fixed.

TEMPLATE

== <SPONSORS NAME> ==
=== General feedback ===
## Please fill us in on your shared experience. (How many packages did you sponsor? How would you judge the quality? How would you describe the improvements? Do you trust the applicant?)

=== Specific Experiences of working together ===
''Please add good examples of your work together, but also cases that could have handled better.''
## Full list of sponsored packages can be generated here:
##  https://udd.debian.org/cgi-bin/ubuntu-sponsorships.cgi
=== Areas of Improvement ===

CategoryMOTUApplication

sudipmuk/MotuApplication (last edited 2024-06-10 15:49:41 by bdrung)