The Debian Med group is dedicated to maintaining software packages of medical and biological interest within the larger volunteer framework that is the Debian Linux distribution. The focus is on the user of the software: to ensure that the applications and software libraries are easy to install, that documentation is available in predictable ways, and that it will work well with other software. Debian Med bridges the technical gap between the publication of research software and the actual use of it by third parties for use in research, the clinic, or even other technical work like benchmarking.