Bits from the DPL (August 2017)
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Dear fellow developers,
Greetings from London, England! Here's what I've been getting
up to as your DPL during August 2017:
DebConf17
=========
It was extremely agreeable to not only see so many familiar
faces at DebConf this year but also to meet new ones and
connect nicknames to “real“ personalities.
For me, DebConf is always a time to be reminded of the value
in the longer-term halo effects of IRL meetups. Being DPL at
a DebConf is also surprisingly tiring!
I naturally attended a large number of talks relevant to my
role as DPL but also presented "Bits From the DPL", ran a
"BSP and Meetings" BoF session as well as presented a status
update from the Reproducible Builds as part of ou wider team.
I spent a lot of my time in all manner of miscellaneous and
fascinating discussions including forging closer relationships
with external organisations such as the FSF [0], Outreachy [1],
the Software Freedom Conservancy [2], etc. but also listening
to various teams about their important yet varied concerns.
As mentioned in my previous missive, I arranged for some Debian
stickers to be shipped from “Unixstickers” [3] in case any
laptops were absent a Debian swirl. I was subsequently
delighted when I saw some on water bottles, etc.
[0] https://www.fsf.org/
[1] https://www.outreachy.org/
[2] https://sfconservancy.org/
[3] https://www.unixstickers.com/
Ongoing anti-harrassment issues
===============================
Regrettably, a large amount of my effort DPL during my term so
far has been consumed with a number of anti-harrassment issues,
both long and short-term in nature.
I mention it here -- not to complain or moan -- but merely as a
“bookmark” as they naturally generate little-to-no external noise
and are otherwise invisible.
Furthermore, they cost a disproportionate amount of energy (or
“spoons”) which invariably takes me away from furthering other
DPL initiatives as I feel I have no choice but to dedicate my
time and efforts to this important work.
Whilst I attempt to convey this in the moment, I’d like to
underline my gratitude and heartfelt thanks for all those also
involved in these issues along with me & who have provided
invaluable advice and patience as I grasp the problem.
In addition to this, this month I’ve unfortunately had to reach
out to a small number of DDs regarding their conduct on our
mailing lists, highlighting how demotivating and unproductive
those behaviours can be to all involved, including their impact
on potential contibutors that we might never see again.
Outreachy
=========
With the recent announcement that a highly-appreciated member of
the Debian Outreach team will be stepping away for the next round
of programmes [4] I’ve been a part of growing number of
discussions both inside and outside the project.
These not only regard finding suitable permanent or interim
replacements, but also to evaluate how Debian can potentially
contribute (and therefore benefit more from) these initiatives.
[4] https://lists.debian.org/debian-outreach/2017/08/msg00007.html
Expenses
========
I pre-approved and/or evaluated a large number of travel and
conference requests this month including:
* FOSScamp
* GNOME Asia 2017
* “Alioth replacement” sprint
* OpenLabs/OSCAL
* #freenode live
* Google DevFests
* UbuCon Paris 2017
In addition, I pre-approved expenses for the DebConf video team
to utilise AWS for streaming support, as well as a small number
of DSA funding requests such as HDDs, etc.
Events
======
In the “events” space, this month saw me in discussions with a
conference who were using the Debian brand and logo as a
“supporter” in a somewhat misleading fashion. This has now been
resolved.
I also spent a few moments ensuring that folks who had travel
sponsored ensured that reports and similar updates appeared
in a timely fashion on Planet Debian [5].
Lastly, I responded to a few queries about the “SunCamp” [6]
model of Debian event that surfaced after the corresponding BoF
at DebConf.
[5] https://planet.debian.org/
[6] https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEvents/Europe/2016/DSC
Reimbursement for BSPs
======================
Please don't forget that Debian is willing to reimburse up to USD
100 or equivalent in your local currency for travel and accommodation
expenses [7]. If there are no BSPs local to you [8], please help
organise one!
Reimbursement requests must meet the following conditions:
* The requester should agree to communicate about their activities
during the BSP (for example in a blog post or similar). The goal
being to increase the visibility of such work.
* The requester must already be a Debian contributor (and preferably
have demonstrated an ability to contribute to this kind of work).
[7] https://wiki.debian.org/Teams/DPL/Reimbursement
[8] https://wiki.debian.org/BSPPlanning
Misc
====
In addition to the above, I spent time on:
* Facilitating discussions around a developer’s concern that their
employee’s IP contract causes issues with their free software
work.
* Redirecting yet more private support queries sent to leader@ to,
for example, the debian-user mailing list. I also fielded many
requests to remove emails from our BTS.
* Moderating the /r/debian subreddit [].
* Fielding an curious number of invitations to high-level
conferences and forwarding them to suitable parties or groups.
* After an «en passant» remark at the Gnome Foundation board meeting,
I investigated rumours of Debian necklaces that were available at
FOSDEM a number of years ago. (Can anyone help?)
* Further work on getting DSA access to the debian.eu domain. This
has now been resolved; thank you to all concerned.
* Various financial miscellania regarding DebConf and Debian in
general, including further work on the status of our Trusted
Organisations, the DC16 financial report and discussing some
concerns raised by the Treasurer team.
* Participating in ongoing discussion regarding selling Debian
media on Amazon.
[9] https://reddit.com/r/debian
Announcements
=============
In case you have missed them, please check out:
* We now have a Policy 4.1.0 [10].
* A number of changes regarding DD membership, including retiring,
MIA and new maintainers. [11]
[10] https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2017/08/msg00007.html
[11] https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2017/08/msg00009.html
See you next month!
Regards,
- --
,''`.
: :' : Chris Lamb
`. `'` lamby@debian.org / chris-lamb.co.uk
`-
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