Bonjour, Le programme de Neil pour l'élection du prochain chef du projet Debian vient d'être publié sur le site web. Si vous souhaitez le traduire, vous pouvez envoyer un ITT en réponse à ce message. Comme le fichier est relativement gros, il est possible de se partager le travail. Amicalement, Thomas
#use wml::debian::template title="Platform for Neil McGovern" BARETITLE="true" NOHEADER="true"
#include "$(ENGLISHDIR)/vote/style.inc"
<table class="title">
<tr>
<td>
<h1 class="titlemain">DPL Platform</h1>
<h3 class="titlerest">Neil McGovern</h3>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<h2 class="section">Introduction</h2>
<p>
Hi there,
</p>
<p>
For those who don't know me, after a long history of Debian in a number of
different teams and roles, I've now decided to run for Debian Project Leader.
</p>
<p>
<h3>Debian activities</h3>
<p>Having done a lot of stuff in Debian, it's a bit hard to remember and list
them all, but below is a brief overview of the wide-ranging areas I've been
involved with.
</p><p>
I first started getting involved with Debian in 2003, by packaging a blogging
client called 'Drivel'. At that point I applied for DD status, and after going
through 3 AMs, finally got my account in 2005. Since then, I have been involved
in a wide range of areas in Debian:</p>
<dt class="dt-description"><b>Release team / Release Manager</b></dt>
<dd class="dd-description">I suspect most people will know me from my time
in the release team, and later as Release Manager for three releases
in a row: Lenny, Squeeze and Wheezy.</dd>
<dt class="dt-description"><b>Press officer</b></dt>
<dd class="dd-description">I'm currently one of the Debian Press Officers,
dealing with the press enquiries that occasionally reach us, rather than
going straight to the DPL.</dd>
<dt class="dt-description"><b>Assistant secretary</b></dt>
<dd class="dd-description">Since 2008, I've served as an assistant to the
then Secretary, Manoj, Bdale as acting secretary, and later to Kurt,
helping set up GRs and providing views on the interpretation of the
Constitution for their advice.</dd>
<dt class="dt-description"><b>DebConf</b></dt>
<dd class="dd-description">I first became involved with the DebConf
organisation team in 2006 in Mexico, setting up the main <a
href="http://www.debconf.org";>DebConf Website</a>, and then co-organising
DebConf 7 in Edinburgh, UK. I stayed involved for DebConf 8 with the
sponsorship team.</dd>
<dt class="dt-description"><b>SPI board member, and secretary</b></dt>
<dd class="dd-description">I was first elected to the <a href="http://www.spi-inc.org";>Software in the Public Interest</a> board in 2006, and continued until 2009. SPI is the legal umbrella that Debian sits in within the United States, and holds the majority of Debian's assets.</dd>
<dt class="dt-description"><b>Webapps-common policy group</b></dt>
<dd class="dd-description">I was one of the authors behind the attempt to
get a common policy for packaging webapps in Debian. The <a
href="http://people.debian.org/~neilm/webapps-policy/";>draft</a> was fairly
complete at the time, but highlighted the differing needs of upstreams and
Debian when it comes to packaging webapps, an issue that still continues
today.</dd>
<dt class="dt-description"><b>Google Summer of Code admin</b></dt>
<dd class="dd-description">For two seasons, I was an admin of the GSoC
project in Debian, helping students be assigned mentors.</dd>
<dt class="dt-description"><b>Account manager</b></dt>
<dd class="dd-description">Possibly due to the length of time it took me to
get through NM, I was motivated to become an AM myself, so did so with a
couple of applicants. At the time though, the workload was huge for an AM,
and I'm glad to see it's improved massively.</dd>
<dt class="dt-description"><b>Secure testing team</b></dt>
<dd class="dd-description">The <a
href="http://secure-testing.debian.net/";>secure testing team</a> was set up
to help provide some level of security support for Debian's testing suite.
This involved tracking things through unstable, and the set up of the <a
href="https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/";>security
tracker</a>, as well as review of packages and issuing advisories for
unembargoed issues.</dd>
<dt class="dt-description"><b>Debian UK clothing</b></dt>
<dd class="dd-description">Finally, I designed a <a
href="http://people.debian.org/~neilm/guinness/";>number</a> of <a
href="http://people.debian.org/~neilm/grolsch/";>t-shirt</a> <a
href="http://people.debian.org/~neilm/valentine/";>designs</a> which may be
recognised by a number of people reading this, or just <a href="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7259/7556437844_b7d7f6e9d6_o.jpg";>me in the Debian kilt</a>!</dd>
<h3>Other activities</h3>
<p>
In my day job, I work for <a href="http://www.collabora.com";>Collabora</a> who
are an open source software consultancy, based all around the world. I'm the
Engineering Manager, making sure our great team of consultants are happy and
working on projects they enjoy - contributing to open source software.
</p>
<p>
Dabbling in politics, I've been a city councillor for Cambridge City Council
from 2008-2012, and I've also also been on the board of the <a
href="https://www.openrightsgroup.org/";>Open Rights Group</a>, a UK-based
organisation that works to preserve digital rights and freedoms by campaigning
on digital rights issues. I'm also a member of the Network Operators Committee
on OFTC, and a regular irc op on #debian related channels.
</p>
<h2 class="section">Debian - Our shared vision</h2>
<h3 class="subsection">Where we came from</h3>
<p>
The Debian project has been around for a long time. Early in our history, we
found a simple concept: "the universal operating system". Over the last 20
years have shifted somewhat to what we are today. Some of our earliest
traditions remain core to the project, and some have moved to better align
ourselves with the wider free software community. This is not a bad thing -
when we were first founded, the wider ecosystem didn't exist - Debian has
help found and create that ecosystem. However, some key characteristics
remain fundamental to the project:
</p>
<dt class="dt-description"><b>A dedication to technical excellence</b></dt>
<dd class="dd-description">No matter what, Debian takes the <em>technically
correct</em> decisions. We don't shirk away from this - we embrace it.</dd>
<dt class="dt-description"><b>We are a community distribution</b></dt>
<dd class="dd-description">Debian is not, and shall never be controlled by a
central figure or power. Our power comes from the very people who work on
the project - those who dedicate the time and their skill to making Debian
the best it can be.</dd>
<dt class="dt-description"><b>We integrate</b></dt>
<dd class="dd-description">Through Debian Policy, our software works
together. Through our diligence, we have <b>upgrades</b> rather than
reinstalls. Through our expertise, Debian <em>just works</em>.</dd>
<dt class="dt-description"><b>We care about software freedom</b></dt>
<dd class="dd-description">The Debian Free Software Guidelines are core to
what we believe. They empower us to make the world a better place.</dd>
<dt class="dt-description"><b>We care about our users</b></dt>
<dd class="dd-description">Without people using Debian, we have no purpose.
There is no point in producing an academic operating system that cannot be
used by real people, every day.</dd>
<p>These core concepts have existed for many years. After all, there's a
reason why <a href="http://www.infodrom.org/Debian/mike-debian-2.jpg";>Mike
likes Debian</a>.
<h3 class="subsection">Where we are now</h3>
<p>37500 packages. 12 architectures. 3000 contributors. 144 derived
distributions. Debian has never before been more important. But one must
wonder - are we still serving our core aims? I answer with an emphatic
<strong>yes</strong>.
</p><p>
We've had arguments and unrest over the init system debate, and even though
there is a large strength of feeling over the right path to take, it's much
calmer than in the past. It may not seem like it at the time, but there's
been no expulsions, no DPL recall votes, no fundamental forks of Debian.
I believe it's our technical excellence that helps us continue to work
together.
</p>
<p>As a community, we seek to work with each other. There remain issues on
how exactly we can do this - the disparate needs of packagers and trying to
ensure we move towards a common system that works for everyone is sometimes
in conflict. One thing that we need to remember is that Debian is a
volunteer project. People can't be forced to work on a particular aspect,
and we rely on others to to do the bits of producing a distribution that we
ourselves don't like doing, or can't do alone.
</p>
<p>
Our releases are well tested, and integrate with each other. However, as
Debian expands, this goal is becoming harder and harder to achieve. A lot of
good work comes from those who take a broad view of Debian, and don't look
at just their packages.
</p>
<p>Our core teams are generally working well, but can attract criticism for
attempts to do their job. They also lack volunteers, but finding people who
are interested and have experience in those roles is difficult.
</p><p>We have managed to successfully release approximately every 2 years
for the past 4 releases, providing a platform for our users. For some, this
is too slow. For others, it's just right. We've managed to set a timeline in
place to give some visibility for when we're releasing next, and to enable
contributors to know what's going on and what to expect, but there remains
an issue about the time it takes in the freeze.
</p>
<h3 class="subsection">Where we are going</h3>
<p>I'm terrible at future predictions, but one thing I'm willing to predict is
that Debian will remain relevant to the community. We've moved from people
using Debian directly to some of our derived distributions, but I'm not
convinced that the raw numbers show a mass exodus away from Debian, instead it
shows an influx of other people who have not used a free operating system
before. This is something we now seem to have come to peace with, but that
doesn't mean we should simply be a base distribution others can build off, and
not be useful in our own right.
</p>
<p>We need to ensure that we cater to our users, and there's millions of
them. From those running the latest software in unstable, to people who
simply want a rock solid core release we can put on our servers, receive
security updates, and leave alone. The size of Debian is increasing, and
will reach a point where we're unable to guarantee basic compatibility with
other packages, or the length of time it takes to do so becomes
exponentially longer, unless something changes.
</p><p>
Yet this is not something that is insurmountable, we have some of the
brightest people in the world working with the project. We're are the global
experts at making sure our software integrates. We need to ensure we stay
that way.
</p>
<h3 class="subsection">How I will help get us there</h3>
<p>I will <strong>support and enable</strong> those who do the work to get
what they need, when they need it. Compared with a number of years ago, our
core teams are working well. I believe it is the DPL's job to <em>remove the
blockers</em> and let our colleagues get on with their jobs. That's not to say
they shouldn't get the support they need. I will listen to our contributors and
users, and be guided by those who want Debian to go from strength to
strength.</p>
<p>I will <strong>push for implementation of "PPA"</strong> archives, and
modernising our <strong>build and infrastructure system</strong> by working
with the FTP Masters, wanna-build team, and DSA. It should be much easier for
us to produce a working system with the correct tools, and some of our core
infrastructure has not been keeping up with what we need to make such a large
system.
<p>I will promote and encourage <strong>engagement in non-packaging</strong>
aspects of Debian contribution. We need to reach out more to people who aren't
involved with these teams, and encourage them as an important part of producing
the distribution. One method to help achieve this is via a mechanism we've had
for a while - mentoring, but applying it to non-packaging work. I'd like to see
this embedded into all of our processes.
<p>I will <strong>continue to communicate</strong> with the project - the daily
DPL log as set up by Stefano is a great tool, and monthly bits mails are
helpful to show the project what the DPL is up to. As far as possible, I will
engage with teams and the project <strong>on public lists</strong>, as this is
one of our fundamental priorities.</p>
<h3 class="subsection">What else?</h3>
<p>
There are many more areas that the DPL could get involved with, and many more
promises I could make. I think that doing so would be foolhardy, the job of the
DPL is a tough one that requires a lot of work, and I don't want to bite off
more than I can chew immediately.
</p><p>
The DPL has a unique role. If there's an issue which only the DPL can solve,
I'll do whatever I can to ease the issue and find a resolution. Be it
authorising new expenditure so that we get buildds that are reliable, or
speaking to the press and industry about the benefits of Debian, or even simply
encouraging all who want to help us in the project, as DPL I will ensure we let
our colleagues get on with the work they love.
</p>
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