Bits from the DPL (October 2017)
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA256
Greetings from Berlin, Germany… Here's what I've been getting up to as
your DPL during October 2017:
Rackspace
=========
Rackspace [1], who have generously been providing hardware support to
the Debian Project for some years recently contacted Debian to announce
that they were ending their discount programme for free software
projects.
Whilst I referenced the issue in September's "Bits from the DPL" [2], I
was not explicit about the details as I was wishing for a last-minute
reprieve.
I am therefore pleased to announce that after some discussion the
Rackspace leadership team has decided that they will not be ending the
aforementioned programmme. The discount will therefore continue as it
has for the foreseeable future.
Thank you to Rackspace for their much-appreciated support of Debian
GNU/Linux.
[1] https://rackspace.com/
[2] https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2017/09/msg00007.html
DPL interview
=============
I was interviewed in-depth by Laura Stamey of HostingAdvice [3] who
subsequently published a suspiciously glowing account of the Project.
[3] http://www.hostingadvice.com/blog/perks-to-using-debian-free-open-operating-system/
Anti-Harrassment
================
I spent significant time this month engaged in various conversations
regarding anti-harrassment or abuse.
This was not only in terms of responding to time-sensitive specific
issues (both ongoing and new) but also engaging others in important and
salient concerns on the topic from a broader persective, especially how
some of its process can — and has been — interpreted from an outsider's
point of view.
In addition, I had brief discussions about the status and staffing of
the (criminally under-appreciated) Anti-Harrassment Team itself.
Expenses
========
I pre-approved, evaluated and/or answered queries on a number of travel
and conference requests this month, including:
* Freenode #live. [4]
* A DSA [5] sprint in Jan/Feb 2018.
* MiniDebConf Cambridge. [6]
* A United Nations hackathon.
* MiniDebConf Toulouse. [7]
* Pyconf Hyderabad. [8]
* MiniDebConf in Prishtina, Kosovo.
* Debian Cloud sprint. [9]
* Video Team Sprint (at MiniDebConf Cambridge). [10]
* Reproducible Builds summit in Berlin, Germany. [11]
[4] https://freenode.live/
[5] https://dsa.debian.org/
[6] https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEvents/gb/2017/MiniDebConfCambridge
[7] https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEvents/fr/2017/Toulouse
[8] http://pyconf.hydpy.org/
[9] https://wiki.debian.org/Sprints/2017/DebianCloudOct2017
[10] https://wiki.debian.org/Sprints/2017/DebConfVideoteamSprint20Nov2017
[11] https://reproducible-builds.org/events/berlin2017/
Futhermore, I also:
* Approved expenses for some Debian Ports [12] hardware.
* Sent a number of friendly follow-ups to ensuring people post updates
to Planet Debian if they attended a conference with sponsorship.
* Sent further followups regarding DebConf17 reimbursements.
* Forwarded and followed-up on concerns regarding a Debian Trusted
Organisation. [13]
[12] https://www.debian.org/ports/
[13] https://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Treasurer/Organizations
Lastly, I was also involved in lengthy inter- and intra-project
discussions on a potential misallocation of surplus funds for an event
attended by Debian contributors, as well as identifying & reporting
fraudulent activity on our Paypal account.
Upcoming MiniDebConfs
=====================
There are two MiniDebConfs taking place during November; the first in
Tolouse, France (November 18-19) [14] and the second in Cambridge, UK
(November 23-26) [15].
As mentioned last month, anyone who attends both events in full (and can
provide some proof) can expect a small token of appreciation from your
DPL.
[14] https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEvents/fr/2017/Toulouse
[15] https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEvents/gb/2017/MiniDebConfCambridge
BSP Reimbursements
==================
Don't forget that Debian is willing to reimburse up to USD 100 (or
equivalent in your currency) for accommodation/travel expenses to attend
a Bug Squashing Party (BSP) [16].
If there are no BSPs near to you [17], please help organise one.
Reimbursement requests should meet the following conditions:
* The requester should agree to communicate about their activities
during the BSP (in 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 that kind of work.
[16] https://wiki.debian.org/Teams/DPL/Reimbursement
[17] https://wiki.debian.org/BSPPlanning
Misc
====
In addition to the above, I spent time on:
* Inter-project discussions regarding GitLab [18] and their Contributor
License Agreement, seen by many to be a blocker to more-widespread
adoption by Debian.
* Wishing the Free Software Foundation [19] belated celebrations on
their 34th birthday. Happy birthday to GNU…
* Initial conversations regarding Debian becoming a supported operating
system on the Windows Subsystem for Linux [20] platform.
* Updating the logo and header image for the @Debian Twitter account
[21] to be much more aesthetically pleasing (!).
* Outlining to specific users how they can help in the aviation and
machine learning areas in the context of Debian.
* Moderating and contributing to the /r/debian subreddit [22] as well
as responding to suggestion to do an "AMA" [23] as Project Leader.
* Redirecting yet more private support queries sent to the leader
alias. I also yet fielded further requests to remove emails from our
bug tracking system.
[18] https://about.gitlab.com/
[19] https://www.fsf.org/
[20] https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/wsl/
[21] https://twitter.com/debian
[22] https://reddit.com/r/debian
[23] https://www.reddit.com/r/AMA/wiki/guide
Feedback
========
As a final footnote to this "Bits…", I would like to be explicit in
requesting any feedback on my activities as your Project Leader, as well
as how I could communicate them more effectively or transparently to
you.
Any other questions or concerns about the Project (that would be
inappropriate or difficult to bring up elsewhere, etc.) are naturally
welcome too. Please address your emails to <leader@debian.org>.
Phew. See you all next month…
- --
,''`.
: :' : Chris Lamb
`. `'` lamby@debian.org / chris-lamb.co.uk
`-
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----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=1Pjk
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
Reply to: