Javier Candeira wrote:
What are the candidates' plans for formulating a clear policy for access to DD status (with the all-important right to vote in Debian elections) forother type of contributors (translators, UI/artist types, and even -gasp- lawyers seem the most obvious examples)?
I don't like the idea of approaching this from a "give people the right to vote" perspective -- not least because I suspect it's a horrible idea to have a DPL who might be planning on running for re-election trying to change who can vote in that election...
The perspective I take instead is one of making it easier for people who have a use for developer status to get it. If translators, artists, and lawyers don't have any use for accounts, uploading priveleges and whatever else, then that's fine, IMO -- I don't think all the political stuff in Debian should be the focus. I mean, there are plenty of upstream developers who provide far huge contributions to Debian without being given a vote, so I don't think this should be taken as an insult in any way.
Otherwise, I think it's fine for people who don't program or don't do packaging work, but who contribute to Debian in other ways to go through the new-maintainer process and become a developer. I'm all for "tasks and skills" checks appropriately reflecting all the tasks Debian involves, and all the skills Debian can make use of.
I likewise think it's a perfectly good idea for translation teams (and similar) to acknowledge the contributors to that effort, even without the formalities of running the new-maintainer gauntlet.
Cheers, aj