On 9/15/2022 7:26 AM, Clément Hermann wrote: > Hi, > > > Le 15/09/2022 à 12:37, Chuck Zmudzinski a écrit : > > > > > Obviously, my proposal would need to somehow define who are the users > > that should be given a formal vote for GRs, the DPL, etc. Maybe "true users > > of Debian" is the wrong phrase to define it, maybe the correct idea is > > expressed > > by "contributor with voting rights." Maybe the voting developers can > > nominate contributors who are not developers who should be given voting > > rights, and if the person nominated receives a simple majority, or some > > higher > > majority like 2/3, then that person gains voting rights even though that > > person > > is not a developer. The theory behind my proposal is that there is a > > diversity > > of viewpoints that stems from a diversity of roles within the project. If > > the > > voting members are restricted only to the contributors who volunteer for > > the role of developer, then the full diversity of the Debian community is > > not reflected in a vote that only comes from the pool of formal developers. > > I would just like to point out that it is possible (and it has been > done) to become a Debian Member with voting rights without a developer > role. This is what we call "Debian Developer, non-uploading" (or Debian > Member). > > You have to be a contributor, still, and follow the New Member process - > more information is available at > https://www.debian.org/devel/join/newmaint
Thanks Clement, for your advice. Well, maybe if I can convince a sponsor to help me with issues that might arise as the bookworm release approaches to make some contributions to that effort might be something I could do, whether or not I ever decide to formally apply for membership. I do know in all my contributions so far, at least two maintainers have said that many maintainers sorely lack experience with testing on Xen, and that is something I could contribute to, perhaps in the grub, the d-i, systemd, the kernel, or Qemu. Recently I authored a patch accepted by Qemu upstream that fixed a bug I reported to the BTS that affected Xen and the Linux kernel. That bug was just closed earlier this week by a recent upload of the latest Qemu packages for unstable. Xen provides multiple computing environments and is currently not easy to use, and maybe I could seek a developer interested in Xen as a mentor, Ian Jackson comes to mind and he is still officially a member of the Debian Xen Team but Hans van Kranenburg is doing most of the day to day work and I get the impression he is not a DD but a DM and IIUC he cannot be a sponsor if he is not a DD. I could help maintainers for packages such as grub, systemd, the kernel, etc. indirectly by helping the Xen Team by at least getting Xen into good enough shape so it is easier for other package maintainers to create tests of Debian in the various Xen computing environments that Debian aims to support with an initial goal of just determining all the Xen environments where Debian either does not boot at all or it is not so easy to configure it to boot properly. Maybe I could help with the release team hunting down issues that should be in the documentation for the bookworm release and learn more about that process. Documentation is something that is much easier said than done well. Debian's documentation is pretty good, though, IMHO. I really would *not* to work on the documentation for Xen which is very old and out of date and really should not be updated until it is fixed on Debian so it is more user friendly. Once Xen is fixed on Debian so it is easier to configure, then the documentation for Xen can be updated. Translations, unfortunately, is not something I can do, I am mainly an en-us person. I know enough about French to guess that it might be your first language, but that's about it. I am a little afraid about how to approach possible mentors with my offer for help as I am a little gun shy when it comes to dealing with Debian people, as you might imagine after what some people say about me in the places governed by the Debian Social Contract and the Debian Code of Conduct. There are people there who want me to do no more than send a gentle ping about a bug I might be experiencing. They say very clearly that anything more I might try to do to help Debian is *not welcome* by the Debian community. You and Andy have said enough to help me to try to ignore those negative voices, but I am afraid to just send out offers of help to random DDs. Any tips you can give me about how to overcome that problem that is particular to my case are welcome. Best regards, Chuck > > > > I subscribed to the debian-project list for the time being so you can reply > > on-list > > from now on. > > ACK :) > > Cheers, >
