DRAFT

Community Approved Third Party Repositories

Many third party repositories exist for CentOS. These repositories have varying levels of stability, support, and cooperation within the CentOS community. However, some repositories are frequently recommended by the community, are usually well maintained, and provide a substantial number of additional packages to CentOS. These are referred to as Community Approved Third Party Repositories. To be considered for this status, a repository must abide by the following rules.

Must clearly describe the types of packages that are provided (see the types of packages below).
Must have a method for users to report issues (bug tracker, mailing list, etc).
If the repository has the potential to replace stock packages (either by name or obsoletes) when yum update is run, it must be disabled by default and have comments in the '.repo' file to warn users about permanently enabling the repository.

Once approved for this status, a repository can request to have their release RPM added to the CentOS Extras repository, to facilitate ease of use by end users.

1. Disclaimers

These repositories are not associated with or supported by the CentOS project.

These repositories may or may not work with each other.

The CentOS project has no control over these repositories, and users that are having issues should report them directly to the appropriate project.

2. Package Types

2.1. Add-on Package

A package that provides software that does not exist in the stock distribution.
Must not have the same name as any stock distribution package.
Must not obsolete any stock distribution package.
Must not conflict with any stock distribution package.
If later added to the stock distribution, it must be removed from the third party repository.

2.2. Parallel Installable Package

A package that provides an alternate version of a stock distribution package.
Uses a different name than the stock distribution package so it can be installed at the same time as the stock distribution package.
Files from the package must use different names than files from stock distribution packages to avoid file conflicts.
Must not provide the stock distribution package name.
Must not obsolete any stock distribution package.
Must not conflict with any stock distribution package.

2.3. Safe Replacement Package

A package that provides an alternate version of a stock distribution package.
Uses a different name than the stock distribution package to prevent unintended upgrades.
Provide the stock distribution package name to satisfy the dependencies of other packages.
Be compatible with other stock distribution packages that depend on the stock distribution package being replaced.
Conflict with the stock distribution package that is being replaced.
Replaces the functionality of the stock distribution package that is being replaced.
Must not obsolete the stock distribution package that is being replaced.

2.4. Direct Replacement Package

A package that provides an alternate version of a stock distribution package.
Uses the same name as the stock distribution package to allow for direct upgrades.
Replaces the functionality of the stock distribution package that is being replaced.
If a repository provides this type of package, it must be disabled by default to avoid unintended upgrades.