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last bits from the DPL



Let's pretend for the rest of this mail that I still don't know what
happened in the elections between me and that NOTA bloke.  Today is the
last day of the current DPL term, so what could possibly be better than
SPAM-ing all of you with a report of what happened in DPL land since
last month?


Highlights: DEX and the -devel/-project happy
---------------------------------------------

I've a couple of highlights to share, since the last time you heard from
me. The first one is the Debian dErivatives eXchange (DEX) initiative
that has been announced a few weeks ago [1,2]. I've been working to set
it up together with Matt Zimmerman---who surely deserves most of the
credit---on and off since DebConf10. In the panorama of the various
initiatives we have to collaborate among derivatives, DEX is meant to
take a sort of "activist" role. People active in DEX will organize
focused activities to integrate back into Debian proper differences
which exist wrt other derivatives. Example activities will be
identifying a specific set of patches or packages which are missing in
Debian but available in a derivative and integrate them into Debian.

With a first initiative almost completed, we now need various kind of
helping hands. If you are interested in this topic, please subscribe to
the debian-derivatives@lists.d.o mailing list and chime in there to:

- name technical differences (please, be precise, no hand-waving) that
  need reconciliation with Debian proper

- volunteer to coordinate a specific DEX activity

- help with NMUs that might be needed when changes that need integration
  hit non-responsive maintainers. You might help by preparing,
  reviewing, and uploading NMUs (according to best practices, of course)

I've also replied to various media queries [3,4] about DEX.

[1] http://dex.alioth.debian.org/
[2] http://www.debian.org/News/2011/20110318
[3] http://www.muktware.com/n/18/2011/843/ubuntu-calls-home-work-closely-debian-announces-dex
[4] http://www.itwire.com/opinion-and-analysis/open-sauce/45956-debian-launches-derivatives-exchange-project

Another highlight since last report is surely the frenetic activity that
the -devel and -project mailing lists are going through. While the load
might be high, I encourage all of you to review ongoing discussions on
important topics such as: source-only / throw-away uploads, time-based
freezes, release goals (that you're welcome to propose!), /run support,
blends/sub-project role in Debian web presence, etc.

Let me also remind you that the Release Team is keen to receive feedback
about last release cycle, in order to do even better in the next
one. That's the chance to get past old itched and turn them into useful
feedback. The Release Team requested feedback at <feedback@release.d.o>,
and you can also participate in some of the threads above which are
related to release procedures.


Communication
-------------

I've enjoyed spreading the Debian verb in a few occasions lately:

- I've been interviewed by a Bosnian local team, excited by the
  forthcoming DebConf11 (publishing is forthcoming)

- I've delivered the talk "Debian: 17 years of Free Software, do-ocracy,
  and democracy" in Taipei, Taiwan for the local SLAT
  association. (Event page [5] and slides [6] are available.) SLAT has
  also kindly prepared an honorary, who has been donated to support the
  Debian project, thanks!

- An old FOSDEM interview about Debian and Squeeze has been aired today
  by Radio Campus Tours [7,8] (French only)

Looking forward:

- I'll be at LinuxTag in Berlin [9] to deliver on May 12nd the talk
  "Debian: 18 years and counting"

- I'll then be in Athens on May 20-22 to talk at the annual conference
  of the Greek Free and Open Source Software Society [10]

- I've been invited to attend the forthcoming Ubuntu Developer Summit
  [11], but due to a clash with the above I won't be able to attend. In
  case you are interested to attend and ready to be a Debian
  representative there please get in touch to me ASAP, so that I can
  consider delegating the task to you.

[5] http://www.slat.org/slat//modules/eguide/event.php?eid=67
[6] http://git.upsilon.cc/cgi-bin/gitweb.cgi?p=talks/20110321-taipei.git
[7] http://www.radiocampustours.com/2011/04/elangagement-4-le-fosdem/
[8] http://www.radiocampustours.com/media/podcast/elangagement/elangagement0411.mp3
[9] http://www.linuxtag.org/2011/
[10] http://www.ellak.gr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6874/
[11] http://uds.ubuntu.com/


Relationships with others
-------------------------

As a Project, we have accepted the kind invitation of the GNOME
Foundation to be present at the GNOME.Asia summit [12]. Josselin Mouette
has been able to attend on behalf of Debian. His company, EDF, has also
kindly accepted to sponsor his expenses; thanks to both! A report of
Joss' attendance is available [13].

I've discussed a bit more about the relationships among Debian and the
FSF with John Sullivan, who has in the mean time become the new
executive director at FSF. There are no specific news since my last post
[14] on the matter to share, but we'll be soon seeking feedback on
various topics from the Debian community at large.

I've also discussed quite a bit with the gNewSense community manager,
Graziano Sorbaioli, who has reached out to me to see how can we avoid to
duplicate various kind of technical efforts.

[12] http://www.gnome.asia/
[13] http://np237.livejournal.com/31322.html
[14] http://upsilon.cc/~zack/blog/posts/2011/02/squeeze_debian_and_the_FSF/


DebConf
-------

Together with the DebConf team, we have agreed to keep common accounts /
earmarks for Debian and DebConf at the various trusted organizations.
The only exceptions to that rule will be the time windows around each
DebConf edition. They will start at the first expense and ending shortly
after conference end (max 2 months).  You can check the archives of the
debconf-team mailing list for the gory details.

On behalf of Debian and in collaboration with the DebConf team, I've
also signed an agreement with the Bosnian DIVA NGO. The organization
will be trusted to hold some Debian money for the duration of DebConf11,
to facilitate local expenses and donations of local sponsors. More
details can be found at <master:/srv/leader/archive/letters/*-diva.pdf>.


Sprints and other expenses
--------------------------

Quite a lot of sprints activities [15] have happened recently, great!

- several sprints have happened: ftp-master [16], groupware [17] (check
  the links for reports about them)
- the following sprints have been (pre-)approved and are now
  forthcoming: alioth [18], release team
- I've approved reimbursement for various expenses such as: Andreas
  Tille presentation of Debian-Med at Med@Tel (see report [19]), disk
  replacement for ries.d.o, Debian-Med sprint [20]

If you want a sprint too... you know the drill: just read the doc! [15]

[15] http://wiki.debian.org/Sprints
[16] http://wiki.debian.org/Sprints/2011/FtpMasterSprint
[17] http://wiki.debian.org/GroupwareMeeting2011-04-01to03
[18] http://wiki.debian.org/Sprints/2011/AliothSprint
[19] http://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2011/04/msg00005.html
[20] http://wiki.debian.org/Sprints/2011/DebianMedSprint


Now let's all go back to inflate some -devel thread!
Cheers.


PS as usual, the 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. Capossela .......| ..: |.......... -- C. Adams

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