I have wanted to contribute but have held off because there seem to be some nasty prima donnas waiting to pounce on newbies for making mistakes. After 43 years in the business, I don’t need to deal with those egos. I would like to contribute, but I hesitate to. Does that make any sense?
Al (not a-eye) On Thu, Jul 3, 2025 at 8:59 PM Andreas Tille <ti...@debian.org> wrote: > Dear Debian community, > > This is bits from the DPL for June. > > > The Challenge of Mentoring Newcomers > ==================================== > > In June there was an extended discussion about the ongoing challenges > around mentoring newcomers in Debian. As many of you know, this is a > topic I’ve cared about deeply--long before becoming DPL. In my view, the > issue isn’t just a matter of lacking tools or needing to “try harder” to > attract contributors. Anyone who followed the discussion will likely > agree that it’s more complex than that. > > I sometimes wonder whether Debian’s success contributes to the problem. > From the outside, things may appear to “just work”, which can lead to > the impression: “Debian is doing fine without me--they clearly have > everything under control.” But that overlooks how much volunteer effort > it takes to keep the project running smoothly. > > We should make it clearer that help is always needed--not only in > packaging, but also in writing technical documentation, designing web > pages, reaching out to upstreams about license issues, finding sponsors, > or organising events. (Speaking from experience, I would have > appreciated help in patiently explaining Free Software benefits to > upstream authors.) Sometimes we think too narrowly about what newcomers > can do, and also about which tasks could be offloaded from overcommitted > contributors. > > In fact, one of the most valuable things a newcomer can contribute is > better documentation. Those of us who’ve been around for years may be > too used to how things work--or make assumptions about what others > already know. A person who just joined the project is often in the best > position to document what’s confusing, what’s missing, and what they > wish they had known sooner. > > In that sense, the recent “random new contributor’s experience” posts > [m01] might be a useful starting point for further reflection. I think > we can learn a lot from positive user stories, like this recent > experience of a newcomer adopting the courier package. I'm absolutely > convinced that those who just found their way into Debian have valuable > perspectives--and that we stand to learn the most from listening to > them. > > We should also take seriously what Russ Allbery noted in the discussion: > “This says bad things about the project's sustainability and I think > everyone knows that.” [m02] Volunteers move on--that’s normal and > expected. But it makes it all the more important that we put effort into > keeping Debian's contributor base at least stable, if not growing. > > > [m01] https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2025/06/msg00055.html > https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2025/06/msg00105.html > [m02] https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2025/06/msg00073.html > > > Project-wide LLM budget for helping people > ========================================== > > Lucas Nussbaum has volunteered to handle the paperwork and submit a > request on Debian’s behalf to LLM providers [l01], aiming to secure > project-wide access for Debian Developers. If successful, every DD will > be free to use this access--or not--according to their own preferences. > > > [l01] https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2025/06/msg00060.html > > > Kind regards > Andreas. > >
