Hello everyone, I'm new to Debian packaging and had some helpful chat with Soren Stoutner ( https://nm.debian.org/person/soren/), who is a Debian Maintainer. As suggested, I'm sharing our conversation here in a simple question-and-answer format. This way, other beginners can learn from it too. I'll break it down part by part using bullet points and easy words. Feel free to jump in with advice or corrections!
- *Part 1: Recommendation to check out mentors.debian.net <http://mentors.debian.net>:* *My question:* Where should I start as a new contributor (Unofficial Maintainer)? *Soren's answer:* I recommend looking at mentors.debian.net. Here's a guide for new maintainers: <https://mentors.debian.net/intro-maintainers/> https://mentors.debian.net/intro-maintainers/ <https://mentors.debian.net/intro-maintainers/> - *Part 2: Can packaging work count as an internship?* *My question: *If I work on packaging, can I count that as an "internship" or project-like work, similar to a student internship? *Soren's answer:* Yes, you can. - *Part 3: Getting official documents (**official internship letter**) for university requirements:* *My question: *I need this for my university's undergraduate internship requirement. For official recognition, I might need an offer letter, certificate, or both. Would Debian/mentors provide such documents if we agree on a supervised program or formal mentorship? * Soren's answer:* Debian Mentors isn't a structured internship program, so Debian doesn't give official letters or certificates. But an individual sponsor might write and sign one personally. For example, I (Soren) would be willing to do that. Also, note that Debian joins official internship programs like Google's Summer of Code, Outreachy, and Open Source Promotion Plan. These are run by other groups and might have schedules that don't match your university's, but they're worth checking. - *Part 4: Formal mentorship or support in Debian:* *My question: *Does the Debian community provide any formal mentorship or support to contributors (beyond uploading), like guidance or payment? *Soren's answer:* The Debian Mentors mailing list gives guidance. I'm copying the list here, and I recommend subscribing: https://lists.debian.org/debian-mentors/. Debian doesn't pay anyone. Sometimes contributors get paid by their employers for work on Debian that's important to the company, like in other open-source projects, but Debian doesn't handle that. - *Part 5: Who is my sponsor?* *My question: *If I ask someone to sponsor my package on mentors.debian.net, does that person become my "sponsor"? Or are you (Soren) my sponsor and mentor too? *Soren's answer: *Yes, the person who sponsors your package (reviews it and uploads it to the Debian archive) will mentor you through the process. Remember, they're all volunteers, so their time might be limited. - *Part 6: Career path in Debian:* *My question:* If I start as an unofficial maintainer, what could be my future career path in Debian? How can I become an official Debian Maintainer or even a full Debian Developer? What are the exact requirements and process? *Soren's answer: *There's documentation here: For Debian Maintainer - https://wiki.debian.org/DebianMaintainer For Debian Developer - https://wiki.debian.org/DebianDeveloper And the New Members process - https://nm.debian.org/ - *Part 7: Starting with a sponsorship request and beginner **tips:* *My question:* I saw Bug #xxxxxx: RFS: xxxxxx, a sponsorship request. It looks interesting, but I'm not sure if a beginner like me should start with it. How should I begin properly? What's the best starting point for learning Debian packaging? Any specific docs, beginner tasks, or example repos? *Soren's answer: *That RFS (Request For Sponsor) is from someone already working on a package who needs a sponsor. If you're really interested, contact him to see if they want to team up. But as a newbie, it's better not to team with another newbie. Instead, pick an orphaned package or one requesting adoption that you use yourself or are interested in—it makes testing easier. Check these: Orphaned packages - https://www.debian.org/devel/wnpp/orphaned Packages requesting adoption - https://www.debian.org/devel/wnpp/rfa_bypackage More options - https://wnpp.debian.net/ - *Part 8: Distro for development**: * *Soren's answer: *You can develop for Debian on another OS, but I highly recommend using Debian itself. There is a huge debate among Debian Developers as to the relative merits of using stable, testing, or unstable for development. Personally, I use testing. *My follow-up:* I installed Debian Sid in a VM (keeping Pop!_OS on my laptop for stability). - *Part 9: Why should I use *[email protected] *for my future query**:* *Soren's suggestion:* I recommend copying all our communication to the Debian Mentors mailing list. Benefits: i) Other newbies can learn from our questions. ii) From time to time I might get busy and be unable to respond in a timely manners. In those circumstances, someone else on the list may be able to answer your questions. iii) Communicating on the mailing list helps to assure you get the most accurate information. Sometimes I have given advice on the list that I believed was correct only to be informed by someone else of more accurate information. Packaging for Debian is a large and complicated topic (mostly because different upstream projects vary so much, and standardizing their software into a Debian package is not always easy), and having more than one set of eyes when looking at a problem is always nice. - *Part 10: Personal guidance for first projects:* *My question:* Could you personally guide me through my first one or two small projects? It would help me understand Debian’s workflow and culture. *Soren's answer: *Sure. First, pick a package. Look at ones up for adoption or orphaned, especially ones you use yourself for easier testing. Links: Orphaned - https://www.debian.org/devel/wnpp/orphaned; RFA - https://www.debian.org/devel/wnpp/rfa_bypackage. Thanks, Soren, for the guidance! If anyone on the list has tips or wants to help with my first package, let me know. I'm excited to start contributing. Soren has been CCing all his responses to mentors, which you can see in the thread that starts here: https://lists.debian.org/debian-mentors/2025/11/msg00229.html Best regards, Md. Asif Hossain
