Dear Debian community,
This is bits from the DPL for June.
The Challenge of Mentoring Newcomers
====================================
In June there was an extended discussion about the ongoing challenges
around mentoring newcomers in Debian. As many of you know, this is a
topic I’ve cared about deeply--long before becoming DPL. In my view, the
issue isn’t just a matter of lacking tools or needing to “try harder” to
attract contributors. Anyone who followed the discussion will likely
agree that it’s more complex than that.
I sometimes wonder whether Debian’s success contributes to the problem.
From the outside, things may appear to “just work”, which can lead to
the impression: “Debian is doing fine without me--they clearly have
everything under control.” But that overlooks how much volunteer effort
it takes to keep the project running smoothly.
We should make it clearer that help is always needed--not only in
packaging, but also in writing technical documentation, designing web
pages, reaching out to upstreams about license issues, finding sponsors,
or organising events. (Speaking from experience, I would have
appreciated help in patiently explaining Free Software benefits to
upstream authors.) Sometimes we think too narrowly about what newcomers
can do, and also about which tasks could be offloaded from overcommitted
contributors.
In fact, one of the most valuable things a newcomer can contribute is
better documentation. Those of us who’ve been around for years may be
too used to how things work--or make assumptions about what others
already know. A person who just joined the project is often in the best
position to document what’s confusing, what’s missing, and what they
wish they had known sooner.
In that sense, the recent “random new contributor’s experience” posts
[m01] might be a useful starting point for further reflection. I think
we can learn a lot from positive user stories, like this recent
experience of a newcomer adopting the courier package. I'm absolutely
convinced that those who just found their way into Debian have valuable
perspectives--and that we stand to learn the most from listening to
them.
We should also take seriously what Russ Allbery noted in the discussion:
“This says bad things about the project's sustainability and I think
everyone knows that.” [m02] Volunteers move on--that’s normal and
expected. But it makes it all the more important that we put effort into
keeping Debian's contributor base at least stable, if not growing.
[m01] https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2025/06/msg00055.html
https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2025/06/msg00105.html
[m02] https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2025/06/msg00073.html
Project-wide LLM budget for helping people
==========================================
Lucas Nussbaum has volunteered to handle the paperwork and submit a
request on Debian’s behalf to LLM providers [l01], aiming to secure
project-wide access for Debian Developers. If successful, every DD will
be free to use this access--or not--according to their own preferences.
[l01] https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2025/06/msg00060.html
Kind regards
Andreas.
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