Hello,
I am interested in making Wikibase available as a package for Debian OS. This would allow easy installation and maintenance of Wikibase instances for any Debian user. Mediawiki, for example, is already available as a Debian package, and is reported to be installed at least on 700 Debian machines [1].
However, having software in Debian requires some commitment from its developers ("upstream"). Debian is released once in two years, with security support for some three years. Once released with Debian, versions of packages normally do not change (Debian 9, released in 2017, has Mediawiki v1.27.7). Nevertheless, security flaws have to be patched, best if in coordination with the upstream.
I am wondering whether the developers of Wikibase would be interested in having Wikibase in Debian? If so, would they be willing to provide security support for versions of Wikibase released with Debian?
Thanks, Andrius
On Thu, Sep 19, 2019 at 4:41 PM Andrius Merkys andrius.merkys@gmail.com wrote:
Hello,
I am interested in making Wikibase available as a package for Debian OS. This would allow easy installation and maintenance of Wikibase instances for any Debian user. Mediawiki, for example, is already available as a Debian package, and is reported to be installed at least on 700 Debian machines [1].
However, having software in Debian requires some commitment from its developers ("upstream"). Debian is released once in two years, with security support for some three years. Once released with Debian, versions of packages normally do not change (Debian 9, released in 2017, has Mediawiki v1.27.7). Nevertheless, security flaws have to be patched, best if in coordination with the upstream.
I am wondering whether the developers of Wikibase would be interested in having Wikibase in Debian? If so, would they be willing to provide security support for versions of Wikibase released with Debian?
Thanks, Andrius
Hi Andrius,
Thanks for reaching out and wanting to package Wikibase. In general I think this is a good idea but it might be a bit too early for Wikibase? We're still in the phase of making Wikibase usable for 3rd party installations and I expect quite a few things to improve over say the next 6 months. I'm a bit hesitant to leave people with an inferior version for too long. Can you shed some light on the schedules etc?
Cheers Lydia
Hi Lydia,
Thank you for your response. Debian release history is best seen on Wikipedia [1]. As the most recent release of Debian is very fresh, there is no date for the next one yet, but judging from the trend it should be in mid-2021. This gives more than a year for Wikibase to mature enough to enter Debian, if desired. As for the security support, the upcoming release might again promise three years after the release date.
Best wishes, Andrius
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debian_version_history#Release_table
On 2019-09-25 16:55, Lydia Pintscher wrote:
Hi Andrius,
Thanks for reaching out and wanting to package Wikibase. In general I think this is a good idea but it might be a bit too early for Wikibase? We're still in the phase of making Wikibase usable for 3rd party installations and I expect quite a few things to improve over say the next 6 months. I'm a bit hesitant to leave people with an inferior version for too long. Can you shed some light on the schedules etc?
Cheers Lydia
wikibaseug@lists.wikimedia.org