[ Draft GR text below, look for "-----". M-F-T set to -vote. ]
Dear Debian project,
in recent events I've attended as DPL, the topic of welcoming
non-packaging contributors as project members has been a recurring one.
Since it was also part of my platform and since DPL terms don't last
forever, I feel it's time to have a project-wide decision on the topic.
There are various intertwined topics here: from which levels of project
membership we want, to the evergreen topic of NM reform. They are all
valuable and important, but what I'm trying to do here is to be
modular. Take one decision at a time, instead of trying to fix all at
once (as we risk to never converge on that), and without posing
artificial barriers to subsequent, hopefully orthogonal, changes.
Of all those topics, one topic *might* have consensus already: accepting
as DDs contributors which have contributed a lot to Debian doing
non-packaging work, which intend to continue doing so, and which are
ready to uphold our Foundation Documents. My feeling of consensus on
that builds upon: in person feedback, private mails, and a growing
number of requests on that direction hitting Front Desk (which FD has
kindly shared with me). I do have an impression of consensus, but I
don't have any "quantitative" evidence. As a discussion alone cannot fix
that, here is the draft GR I'm hereby introducing:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Debian project aims at producing the best free operating system.
To that end the project benefits from various types of contributions,
including but not limited to: package maintenance, translations,
infrastructure and website maintenance, porting, bug triaging and
fixing, management activities, communication, testing, legal advice,
quality assurance, etc.
The Debian project acknowledges that:
* To pursue Debian goals, package maintenance as well as a wide range of
other technical and non-technical contributions are all valuable.
* Active contributors of non-packaging work, which share Debian values
and are ready to uphold Debian Foundation Documents, deserve the
opportunity for becoming Debian project members.
The Debian project therefore invites the Debian Account Managers to:
* Endorse the idea that contributors of non-packaging work might become
Debian Developers without upload rights to the Debian archive. These
new developers shall be recognized as Debian Contributors (DC).
* Establish procedures to evaluate and accept Debian Contributors.
* Initiate the appropriate technical measures to enable Debian
Contributors to participate in Debian decision making and to access
Debian infrastructure.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Some few more comments are in order:
- Constitution §4.2.1 does not require seconds in this case, but I would
appreciate them nonetheless.
- Related past history is <http://www.debian.org/vote/2008/vote_002>.
This GR is narrower in scope and aims at verifying project consensus
before proceeding to implementation.
- At the same time, the text does not mandate a specific implementation.
This is on purpose since:
- Leaving out implementation details, it will be easier to change
project membership procedures later on.
- DAM is authoritative on membership procedures and should be trusted
on these matters. I do have an idea of how the process will look
like (i.e. "like NM, but swifter, without the packaging part") and
I'm sure DAM will be happy to comment on that.
- I've done some background study before posting this. In particular
I've shared the text with FD and DAM, as the GR outcome will directly
impact their work. They have raised no specific objection to any
possible outcome of the GR in its present form. I've also shared the
text with the secretary. While formal ruling can be done only on an
actual ballot, he doesn't consider the above text to be in need of 3:1
majority.
Cheers.
--
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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