Dear Developers,
another month has passed: it's time for some new "DPL SPAM" on d-d-a!
Squeeze Release - Request For Help
==================================
This report RFH section is for the Squeeze release. We're now in deep
freeze [1] and the focus is fixing a few blockers as well as reducing
(to zero!) the number of RC bugs. As I've observed elsewhere, releasing
is a shared responsibility and should not fall only on the shoulders of
Release Team members. There are several ways in which all of us can help
the Squeeze release; *now* it's the moment to pursue them: do NMU to fix
RC bugs if you're a DD, send or solicit patches that fix RC bugs from
your upstream and expert users, triage bugs, organize a Bug Squashing
Party near you, etc.
[1] http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2010/10/msg00002.html
GR: welcome non-packaging contributors as project members
=========================================================
The one "big thing" I've worked on in September is the General
Resolution [2] about Project membership, which is now being voted on
[3]. The topic is the general principle of whether Debian welcomes
project members with skills other than package maintenance or not. The
matter has been blocked in a kind of limbo since 2008; I hope that this
time we can finally decide on how to go forward. As the proposer of the
GR, and as someone who had this topic in his platform, it's no mystery
that I'm a supporter of the idea. No matter what's *your* opinion on the
matter, I encourage you to vote accordingly, in order to make the
decision as representative of project-wide opinion as possible. More
details are available at the usual places [3,4].
[2] http://www.debian.org/vote/2010/vote_002
[3] http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2010/10/msg00000.html
[4] http://lists.debian.org/debian-vote/2010/09/threads.html
Delegations
===========
I've renewed the delegation for ftp-masters, acknowledging Torsten
Werner as a new ftp-master [5]. Thanks to ftp-masters, that has also
been a good chance to update the task description [6]. If you want to
help and/or join the team, check the wiki first [6] and then get in
touch! [7].
[5] http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2010/09/msg00009.html
[6] http://wiki.debian.org/Teams/FTPMaster
[7] mailto:ftpmaster@debian.org
Talks and Interview
===================
I've traveled to and participated in quite some events on behalf of
Debian as of lately (partly also explaining the delay of this
report). You can find below pointers to available material.
- I've attended DUCC-IT (joint Italian Debian/Ubuntu community
conference) [8] in Perugia, Italy and OSSBarCamp [9] in Dublin,
Ireland. Given the mixed Debian/Ubuntu audience, I've talked about
derivatives and the current ecosystem of FOSS distributions. The talk
has been essentially the same, the latest slides of which are at [10].
Videos of DUCC-IT are at [11] (in Italian), videos of OSSBarCamp
exist, but I don't know if they are available yet or not.
- I've attended Open World Forum [12] in Paris, France, where I've been
interviewed about Debian for Intelli'N TV; video (in English) should
hit their website soon [13].
- I've been interviewer in an episode of the This Week In Debian podcast
[14] (which BTW is now published on a regular basis, and looking for
people to interview, check the wiki page for more info).
- A couple of interviews have been published over the last month:
- Linux.fr weblog (en/fr) [15]
- Italian Linux Magazine (it) [16]
[8] http://www.fsugitalia.org/eventi/doku.php?id=duccit10
[9] http://ossbarcamp.com/
[10] http://git.upsilon.cc/cgi-bin/gitweb.cgi?p=talks/20100925-ossbarcamp.git;a=blob_plain;f=ossbarcamp-2010.pdf;hb=pdf
[11] http://meetings-archive.debian.net/pub/debian-meetings/2010/ducc-it/
[12] http://www.openworldforum.org/
[13] http://www.intelli-n.tv/
[14] http://wiki.debian.org/ThisWeekInDebian
[15] http://linuxfr.org/2010/08/21/27273.html
[16] http://www.linux-magazine.it/Stefano-Zacchiroli.htm
Communication
=============
I've been contributing a bit, together with some members of the
Publicity Team [17], to a couple of activities:
- Setting up an official Debian presence on identi.ca [18]. Check out
the instructions [19] if you want to contribute. Many thanks to
Raphael Hertzog and Alexander Reichle-Schmehl who have done most of
the authoring/moderation work thus far.
[17] http://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Publicity
[18] http://identi.ca/debian
[19] http://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Publicity/Identica
- Setting up a Shapado [20] instance to complement current media for
Debian user support with a social Q&A web app (which is obviously Free
Software!). Initial proposal and rationale can be found in the thread
starting at [21]. The service is now running and fairly active at
<http://ask.debian.net>.
[20] http://gitorious.org/shapado
[21] http://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2010/09/msg00123.html
Money
=====
Debian money has been used to sponsor a couple of sprints in September:
- DSA team meeting (announce [22] and report [23] are available)
- FTPmaster meeting (announce [24] and report [25])
If a Debian Team you're involved with feels the need of a similar
meeting and Debian money can make possible, mail a tentative agenda to
leader@d.o, and we'll see what we can do! If, on the other hand, you
would like to help Debian having such meetings more often by donating
money, mail leader@d.o as well ... we should talk :-)
On the subject of money, I've recently updated the guidelines on how to
use [26] and request [27] Debian money; comments are welcome.
[22] http://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2010/08/msg00000.html
[23] http://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2010/09/msg00027.html
[24] http://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2010/08/msg00314.html
[25] http://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2010/09/msg00139.html
[26] http://wiki.debian.org/Teams/DPL/SponsoringGuidelines
[27] http://wiki.debian.org/Teams/DPL/AskingForMoney
Misc
====
- Thanks to Moray Allan, the aforementioned discussions on DebConf
organization have started [28]; keep an eye on the debconf-team
mailing list to follow them.
[28] http://lists.debconf.org/lurker/message/20100914.214711.e7e25aaf.en.html
- In agreement with the Release Team, and upon request, I've clarified
that it is up to the Release Team to decide both naming and
dedications for Debian releases. You should contact them for
dedication proposals, but please understand that the final decision is
theirs.
- Training sessions have been mentioned in various occasions as of
lately, to me in private and in various mailing lists (e.g. [29]), as
an important mechanism to maintain a very high standard of developer
skills. The first needed ingredient to make it happen is finding
"teachers". If you are interested have a look at the wiki coordination
page [30] and volunteer.
[29] http://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2010/09/msg00093.html
[30] http://wiki.debian.org/DebianWomen/TrainingSessions
Happy Squeeze,
Cheers.
PS the usual boring day-to-day activity log is available at
<master:/srv/leader/news/bits-from-the-DPL.*>
--
Stefano Zacchiroli -o- PhD in Computer Science \ PostDoc @ Univ. Paris 7
zack@{upsilon.cc,pps.jussieu.fr,debian.org} -<>- http://upsilon.cc/zack/
Quando anche i santi ti voltano le spalle, | . |. I've fans everywhere
ti resta John Fante -- V. Caposella .......| ..: |.......... -- C. Adams
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