[aur-general] Can my AUR package be reinstated?

[Alad Wenter]

On Fri, Sep 29, 2017 at 02:17:45AM +0000, Adam Fontenot via aur-general wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> The TU "alad" deleted my package, firefox-clean, from the AUR. I'm
> assuming this is a mistake, but I can't contact alad directly because
> their email is hidden on their profile. At first glance, it may appear
> that my version of the Firefox PKGBUILD in Extra does not do anything
> notable, but this is not the case. My package is intended to do three
> things:
> 
It's not a mistake. Check the submission guidelines [1]; a package
should only be submitted if it's not overly specialized and useful to
more than 1 user. In this case, all but a few users will be able to
achieve what this package offers by configuration of the regular firefox
package in the repositories.

[1] https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Arch_User_Repository#Rules_of_submission

(About my email address; I usually hide it due to spam. However, it is
still visible in my public profile on archlinux.org or any of the
packages I maintain.)

> 1. Set sensible default options that most users will want in the first place.
> 2. Eliminate *at compile time* code that is not web-browser related
> (e.g. Pocket).
> 3. Fix pain points for power users with small, maintainable patches.
> (e.g. inclusion of a restart button in the file menu)
> 
> At least items 2 and 3 cannot be done with adjustments to user.js, as
> the deletion request claims.
> 
You can also disable Pocket through other means (the request also said
"other user configuration"), such as the extensions.pocket.* series
provied in about:config. If you had such concern about these "features"
and wanted to disable them at compile time, there's existing packages
which take this further e.g.  firefox-esr-privacy. [2]

[2] https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/firefox-esr-privacy/

A restart button is available through an addon. [3]

[3] https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/restart-my-fox

> I don't claim that many people will want to use it, but for those who
> might, having a package in the AUR to use could save a considerable
> amount of work. Inclusion in the AUR has never been dependent on the
> number of users the package benefits, and so far as I can see,
> firefox-clean doesn't break any rules.
> 
I don't see how compiling something massive like firefox every 2 weeks
weighs up against minor changes that can be achieved otherwise.
Otherwise, see above.

> Can I recreate the package, or can it be reinstated?
> 
> Thanks!
> 
You can submit a package if it is not overly specialized and
contains more than trivial changes. As outlined above, that's not
something firefox-clean had to offer.

> -Adam Fontenot
Best,

Alad
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