What's the best route to get your own software into Debian and Fedora?

A couple of points based on my experience with Debian:

these are volunteer-driven distros, so making the life of others easier is always a good thing so make sure your software builds cleanly, is documented well etc pp
pre-requisites matter: if your software has Depends: and hence Build-Depends: on other software, then you have to provide that software first
you can always start with local repositories, and/or .deb and .rpm files hosted on your sourceforge / Google Code / ... site
if your software is good and relevant, chances are someone will include it, especially if you start to build a bit of a community
if everything else fails, scratch your own itch and apply to become a Debian Maintainer (DM) so that your packaging can go into the archive

The devel is always in the details. I happen to be a Debian Developer and maintain some software for which I am the upstream author, but I also have other projects that I have not yet put into Debian and may not for some time as they are more specialised.

Thanks. But why should even "specialised" software not make it into Debian? When doing specialised work, it's great to find that software is already available.Anyways from what I take from your answer, becoming a DM is the best way to get my own software in there if I'm not expecting a sudden huge crowd of followers. This means applying and getting a sponsor and all that, which seems like an exasperating amount of work just to upload a file. But maybe worth the trouble.Isn't there a place one can just place source debs for review by someone who might then upload it?

Steve 2009-11-20 03:49:39

Yes, try the debian-mentors list. But recall, you have to convince someone to spend his/her time on your project. Just "because you build it" it doesn't mean that "they will come".

Dirk Eddelbuettel 2009-11-20 04:15:33

I guess I have to admit that find it somewhat difficult that one has to do so much "convincing" just to distribute your own software in a convenient way. Anyways, thanks, I'll probably follow up and learn more about the process.

Steve 2009-11-20 05:07:03

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What's the best route to get your own software into Debian and Fedora?

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