Ubuntu
digikam package

Please consider Digikam 8.3.0 for Noble

Asked by Kjetil Kjernsmo

I realize Ubuntu is now in Feature Freeze for Noble, but I'd like to ask if there is any chance you would consider the 8.3.0 upstream release for Noble anyway?

The background of my unusual question is that I have been observing people ask about crashes in 8.2.0 on the mailing list, and as you can see in the archives: https://mail.kde.org/pipermail/digikam-users/ the developers can usually respond that it has already been fixed in 8.3.0. It very much seems that 8.3.0 is a much stabler release than 8.2.0. It doesn't seem to be a lot of crash bugs, but given that people ask about them, it seems they are pretty consistent.

Moreover, the changelogs at https://invent.kde.org/graphics/digikam/-/blob/v8.3.0/NEWS?ref_type=tags indicate a lot of bug fixes and not that many new features. The main new feature seems to be some AI for auto-tagging, but that's not very likely to cause problems for those who aren't using it.

Thus, it seems that for an LTS release that's going to be living for a long time, it seems that getting 8.3.0 in is good for stability in this case.

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Manfred Hampl (m-hampl) said : 		#1

You have to be aware that Ubuntu is copying packages from Debian (to avoid double packaging work), and according to https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/digikam they started working on a package with version 8.3.0 just today.

If you look at https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/noble-numbat-release-schedule/35649 you can see that "Feature Freeze" and "Debian Import" Freeze dates have already been passed.

So I conclude that the "standard" path for getting digikam version 8.3.0 into Ubuntu noble has been missed.

There is still the possibility of a request for exception.

I suggest that you monitor the development in Debian and create a freeze exception request in Ubuntu's bug tracker, as soon as the new version in Debian is stable and working.

Eventually somebody creates a package with version 8.3.0 in a PPA; that could also serve as a workaround.

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Kjetil Kjernsmo (kjetil) said : 		#2

Yes, I am aware that Ubuntu usually imports from Debian and that the import freeze has happened. However, I also note that 8.2.0 was never in any Debian suite, so clearly, there has been an exception for Ubuntu here, since Ubuntu has 8.2.0.

Since Debian is undergoing a transition, my assumption is further that this would still have to be treated as an exception by Ubuntu, if the maintainers are willing. Thus this question.

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Manfred Hampl (m-hampl) said : 		#3

Yes, I know that the digikam version currently in noble (4:8.2.0-0ubuntu3) and noble-proposed (4:8.2.0-0ubuntu4) both have the number 0 after the first dash, meaning that this version in Ubuntu was not based on a Debian package.

Taking the fact into account, that Debian currently is working on a 8.3.0 package, in my opinion it does make more sense to wait for a few days. If Debian succeed in building a 8.3.0 package, then it should be possible to take this package also for Ubuntu noble.
If Debian does not provide such package soon, then Ubuntu would have to create such package by themselves.

Both these actions will need creation of a bug report in Ubuntu (either a freeze exception or a request to create an updated package).

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