Re: [New maintainer] Working for Debian and becoming a registered Debian developer

[Carl Mummert <mummert@cs.wcu.edu>]

>
>The only way mandatory key signatures would speed up the process would
>be if they *replaced* the need for processing by the new-maintainer
>team.  (Otherwise, they're just an added barrier to entry.)  My
>opinion, though, is that doing so would lead to a false sense of
>security, since it's harder to make 400+ diverse developers apply the
>same standards than it is to do the same with a handful of hand-picked
>new-maintainer processors.

But this system is in use, right now.  If a developer signs my
key, and I have a working phone number somewhere, that is all the
identification I need to join.

>I submit that if a signed key is absolutely required, there will be
>increased pressure for existing developers to sign keys for people
>they have never met.  Doing that on more than a very occasional basis
>would be a very bad idea...

My suggestion is more along the lines of "If a user submits a signed
key, then don't bother with the phone call, just sign them up"

Re physical boundries; how will the new maintainer team manage to call
each new develoepr as the developer base grows large enough that a 
significantly large number of foregin languages is introduced?
If a developer speaks only his native language, and the new maintainer 
team doesn't speak that language, how does the maintainer join?


Carl