Re: Clarifying the rules for fixing someone else’s package in wip

[Greg Troxel <gdt%lexort.com@localhost>]

Benny Siegert <bsiegert%netbsd.org@localhost> writes:

> On Sun, 26 Oct 2025, Stepan Ipatov wrote:
>
>> Is it acceptable to update a broken package in wip that’s maintained
>> by someone else (i.e., not pkgsrc-users%NetBSD.org@localhost) or should I try
>> to contact the maintainer first?
>
> In my experience, it's always fine.
>
> As a maintainer, I actually appreciate if somebody fixes one of my
> packages. As a developer, I sometimes do "large-scale" changes in wip,
> such as removing all packages that depend on a pkgsrc package that has
> been removed.

For fixes that are obviously correct, you should just make them.

If you are updating to a new major version, and especially if you are
making a different judgement call about how the package should be, you
should write to $MAINTAINER.    If you don't hear back in 7 days, you
should feel free to proceed.