Thanks for the information, It sounds like I have quite a bit of reading and research to do. I still feel like I don't know which direction to go in, but I am assuming everyone starting out felt the same way. I am going to just keep up and correct some bugs, then maybe down the line I can decide to try to join a team. Thanks,
--- On Sun, 8/24/08, Serafeim Zanikolas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > From: Serafeim Zanikolas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: Advice > To: [email protected] > Date: Sunday, August 24, 2008, 6:40 PM > Hi Seth, > > [Don't be discouraged by terms/programs mentioned below > you might be > unfamiliar with; it just means that you have to read the > debian policy/devel > docs. Also, I assume that you're interested in > technical/packaging work.] > > On Sun, Aug 24, 2008 at 07:12:45AM -0700, Setheck wrote: > > Hello! > > I am new to debiam devolpment and Im afraid I need > some help getting started. I'm not new to development > and I'm hoping with a list of what I hope to gain > someone can point me in the right direction. > > > > Overall I am looking to gain a better understanding of > functional use of C,C++, or another similar language. > > I would also like to contribute to the community and > from what I have read it sounds like maintaining an orphaned > package may be the way to go. > > I would very much like for someone to take me under > their wing and guide me through the various ins and outs of > Linux development. > > In generall I hope to become a competent and valueble > asset to the Linux community. > > I chose debian because I am an avid user of ubuntu and > debian proper. > > As a relatively new package maintainer myself, I would > suggest that you > familiarise yourself with the debian processes (read the > policy and > maintainer/developer guides) and get practical experience > of applying that > knowledge. I found that creating an actual > debian-policy-compliant package > from scratch was far more educational than merely reading > any number of guides > about dpatch/make/VCS/etc. > > Having said that, owing a package is a major commitment, > based on which you > will be judged. You should pick a program that you have a > personal interest > in, and ideally are in a position to understand its > internals (for instance, > to judge the applicability of a patch or even write one > yourself, if > required). > > If you're serious about debian you should sign up at > least in d-announce, > d-devel (at least skim through it), and d-mentors. d-devel > is useful, amongst > others, for getting a feel of the consensus (or variety of > approaches) on > issues that are not precisely mandated by policy. > > Now some advice to make your work more likely to attract > sponsorship and > feedback from DDs: > > * avoid basic mistakes by reading the policy and new maint > docs, and checking > your package with lintian and debuild (or similar tools) > > * ideally ITA instead of ITP: given the large number of > orphaned packages, > adopting one is often more appreciated than packaging a > new program (this is > not to say that there aren't new programs that are > worth adding to the > archive) > > * prepare QA uploads: this refers to shaping up packages > that have been > orphaned [1, 2] (ie, packages with maintainer set to > Debian QA group); QA > work is a great way to contribute because you can gain > experience without > committing to a package, and you are more likely to get > sponsorship. > Certain QA uploads are trivial, but only after one has > knowledge of policy > and practical packaging experience. Consider inspecting > QA uploads that get > sponsored in d-mentors and consult [4]. > > Careful though not to waste any time with QA work on > packages that should be > considered for removal from the archive [3]. > > > With that said I would like to put out a formal > request for a mentor and/or general help in starting and > continuing to contribute to the community. > > I understand the need for a personal mentor but > unfortunately debian doesn't > have such a provision. Instead there's the mentors > mailing list and irc > channel, where people are fairly helpful and polite. Plus > you will be getting > feedback on a case-by-case basis when your work is > sponsored by a DD. > > Finally, as a new maintainer I was given an excellent piece > of advice which I > happily pass on: not to rush to apply for NM status, but > instead postpone it > until ones reaches a point of significant and systematic > contribution. This > may at first feel frustrating, especially with the need to > get sponsorship, > but it's for good reasons: to maintain the quality of > debian and let new > contributors demonstrate that they are up for a long-term > commitment. > > Cheers, > Serafeim > > [1] http://qa.debian.org/orphaned.html > [2] > http://qa.debian.org/[EMAIL PROTECTED] > [3] http://wiki.debian.org/qa.debian.org/removals > [4] /usr/share/doc/debian-policy/upgrading-checklist.txt.gz > > > -- > To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact > [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
