Arch Linux

Softwehr

Member

Registered: 2025-04-12

Posts: 6

[SOLVED] Notify maintainer about outdated package?

Hello community!

I wanted to look into Linux From Scratch and the first thing i wanted to do is to compile the book as PDF.
So i followed the INSTALL file to install all necessary dependencies and i got an error while when creating the PDF that happened when fop was invoked. I figured it was because a dependency of it, java-xmlgraphics-commons is not the correct version. So when i manually edited the PKGBUILD of java-xmlgraphics-commons to uptodate version, everything worked and the PDF compiled.

So this outdated package clearly breaks fop(which is not outdated).
The packages are also maintained by different maintainers, which is maybe the reason this happened.
I also created a merge request on the archlinux gitlab.

Now my questions:

- How do go on in this Situation if i want to initiate a change?
- Is creating merge requests to update packages okay, or is this disencouraged?

Thank you in advance

Last edited by Softwehr (2025-06-11 23:20:00)

gromit

Package Maintainer (PM)

From: Germany

Registered: 2024-02-10

Posts: 1,157

Website

Re: [SOLVED] Notify maintainer about outdated package?

Hey Leo,

the package does not have a maintainer, but I have updated it to the desired version
Please test the new version and report back if anything is amiss!

Softwehr

Member

Registered: 2025-04-12

Posts: 6

Re: [SOLVED] Notify maintainer about outdated package?

Thank you very much for the quick reply and taking action!
Everything works fine now

seth

Member

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 65,143

Re: [SOLVED] Notify maintainer about outdated package?

\o/
Please always remember to mark resolved threads by editing your initial posts subject - so others will know that there's no task left, but maybe a solution to find.
Thanks.

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mpan

Member

Registered: 2012-08-01

Posts: 1,419

Website

Re: [SOLVED] Notify maintainer about outdated package?

And a thread people should find: Softwehr should be applauded for how the request was made.

A prime example of how do this right and get a positive outcome, instead of a cold, routine response.

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Softwehr

Member

Registered: 2025-04-12

Posts: 6

Re: [SOLVED] Notify maintainer about outdated package?

\o/
Please always remember to mark resolved threads by editing your initial posts subject - so others will know that there's no task left, but maybe a solution to find.
Thanks.

Of course you're right on that, but im a bit unsure if my question is fully answered.

So what i've learned:
- Don't create merge request for trivial things like package upgrades where only a hashsum and a number changes.

- And for the "what to do in this situation" question:
i guess, just posting here is the correct thing to do.
I thought maybe i should use IRC or the mailing list but i have not yet any experience with those(im a zoomer, ok?), so the forum was may first place to go.

So yeah, ill mark it as Solved

Last edited by Softwehr (2025-06-11 23:18:54)

seth

Member

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 65,143

Re: [SOLVED] Notify maintainer about outdated package?

Sorry, I just opened the thread, saw the last post and pasted a text block.

The most basic action is to flag the package out of date to raise awareness w/ the maintainer.
But it's of course perfectly fine to offer a patch for the update which the maintainer can merge, discuss or ignore.

Posting in the bbs or irc "why is this not updated, when will  this be updated, what prevents the update" is usually a waste of time.
As a matter of fact: see #6 in https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=130138

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arojas

Developer

From: Spain

Registered: 2011-10-09

Posts: 2,218

Re: [SOLVED] Notify maintainer about outdated package?

So what i've learned:
- Don't create merge request for trivial things like package upgrades where only a hashsum and a number changes.

- And for the "what to do in this situation" question:
i guess, just posting here is the correct thing to do.
I thought maybe i should use IRC or the mailing list but i have not yet any experience with those(im a zoomer, ok?), so the forum was may first place to go.

So yeah, ill mark it as Solved

If a package being out of date is causing a bug, like it is clearly the case here, then it's perfectly fine to open a bug report saying that package X is broken, and that the fix is to upgrade package Y.