Re: Should I sign up for New Maintainer even though I don't have an advodcate?
I really could give a ratt's a$$ about a Debian email address, that is
the least of my concerns. Just what I don't need is another email address.
Still, I have been a staunch Debian advocate for over ten years, and I have
installed it for several friends of mine, including some pesky laptop installs.
Matthew Palmer wrote:
I notice, for instance, that you've never submitted a bug report (at least
under the e-mail address you're using now). Unless you've recently switched
addresses, that suggests that you never filed an ITP for xdrum - so you've
violated the debian process already - not a good move, since it shows a lack
of knowledge of and/or respect for the way debian works. You've also never
contributed in any meaningful way to any bug report currently active *or*
currently archived (for bdhilton@charter.net, anyway - checking on
doug.hilton@engineer.com would take another 45 minutes).
I dunno. I remember submitting a bug report for Debian/Arm last year
because something trivial ( can't remember now ) was messed up. I don't
generally submit bug reports, because I generally don't have any problems
with Debian that I cannot fix with the vi editor and abour 30 seconds of
effort.
bdhilton@charter.net is my current email
... before that it was doug.hilton@engineer.com
... before that it was doug.hilton@cyberdude.com
... before that it was dman3@geocities.com
... before that it was some doug.hilton@z???.p???.f???.fidonet.org
I really haven't had any problems with Debian, certainly nothing which
requires a bug report. Remember I've been using it for a decade. Its
probably bad, but I just fix things without really thinking about it,
I'm used to Debian.
In short, you appear to be inactive in what is, IMO, one of the most
important parts of software development - QA (in it's broadest sense).
Finding bugs, fixing bugs, confirming bugs - bugs, bugs, bugs! Making a
package installable in Debian is a pretty simple task (relatively). Keeping
it shiny and polished so you don't have faeces flying everywhere when users
go to use your program - that's hard work. And it's not glamourous work, or
particularly attractive to the babes <g>. But it is incredibly important,
and, in my opinion, one of the easiest ways for a DD to judge whether
someone is committed to the project, or just out for the glamour of being in
the project.
Well put. Nevertheless, I continue to run Debian, and really don't have
any problems. Of course I'm running Woody, but I do have 40 or so Gigs which
I could use to install Sid, just empty hard drive space. As far as inactive,
yes, I hacked and hacked and hacked on OSKit/Mach for Debian/Hurd with no
official status and just kept getting ripped on by Roland and Marcus and
Thomas. Don't get me wrong, they are great programmers, but I really got
discouraged after a while. Search the debian/hurd mailing lists and you
will see that I posted a lot of data. I felt like I was spending a lot of
time, money, and effort, and I got discouraged. I have a day job and a
family, and I just want a little Debian feather in my cap to justify all
the time I spend on it.
Anyways, my silly XDrum package is here, just waiting for
an advocate / mentor / sponsor.
The sponsorship system needs help. I try, but it's not a simple effort,
analysing someone's packages to ensure they're quality (it's basically a
complete code review). Have you searched through the archive looking for
packages of a complementary nature to yours, and asking the maintainers of
those packages whether they'd mind sponsoring them?
I am the maintainer of that package. No, I have not searched for complimentary
packages and their respective maintainers. AFAIK Debian has no drum machine
packages.
If you can find a regular sponsor, then yes, you'll be in good stead to find
an advocate. Otherwise, you'll just have to find another DD who feels you'd
be an asset to Debian. Fixing their bugs for them is always a good start.
You appear to have a presence on the debian-arm list - perhaps someone who
is familiar with your (presumably) good work in that area could adovcate for
you.
Maybe. I've dropped off because my Netwinder is running sweet as my router
and I'm not messing with it because it is a tool more than a development
machine at the moment. I compile the occasional program on it, and will
help by answering email questions about Arm systems, but it is now like
an appliance... rock solid and does what it is supposed to do.
Basically, rocking up somewhere and saying "will anyone advocate for me?"
will, in all likelihood, get you less than nowhere. Asking a specific DD
"will you advocate for me, here are the reasons I think you qualify..." is
likely to get a much better response.
Heh.. I know. But I live in the middle of the woods in Pennsylvania.
There are no real Debian developers anywhere close to me. When I went
to DebConf2 I was impressed by Joey Hess... my kind of guy... but I'm a
pretty clean cut square looking dude ( I have a day job as an Engineer )
and I tend to scare people like him :-)
So should I "check the box" even though I do not have an
advocate?
No. Doing that would be lying. Dishonesty is not a good start to your DD
"career". It's just possible, too, that your previous attempt has not
earned you goodwill - hence a slight reticence on the part of DDs to
advocate for you.
I agree. Thus the real answer to my query. This makes it very hard
to apply because you need an advocate before you even apply, so nobody
even knows you are alive. It would be nice if there was a pre-applicant
status where you could laud your great Debian contributions until they
built up enough for somebody to notice. Most of my work was in the
debian-hurd@lists.debian.org and it seems to have fallen through the
cracks and been forgotten. Debian/X86 is so stable and such high
quality that there is little development work or bug reporting required.
Remember how I said above "I just fix the bugs" ... well I do. If
Debian fails, I just install Slack on top of it and drive on. Maybe
this is wrong, but I'm just a user, not a Developer.
Thats another issue. I don't want to be a Debian Maintainer, I want to
be a Debian Developer. A subtle difference, yet nonetheless important.
I'm into Debian/Linux and Debian/Hurd, but lack of membership
severely dampens my enthusiasm. I have X86, Arm, and HPPA machines
and think I could be a great benefit to Debian.
If your enthusiasm is so badly dented by not having a debian.org e-mail
address, then I don't think, honestly, that you're in the right mindset to
be a DD. That may sound harsh (I'm not keen on even typing it) but if you
need that much encouragement, you probably aren't dedicated enough. As you
said yourself, this is a volunteer project - you get no motivation other
than what you bring yourself, and the occasional "thanks. Debian rocks!"
e-mails from users (which are a great boost, I must admit). But saying
"I'll be motivated after I'm a DD" won't get anyone on your side. Sorry.
No its not exactly like that, I just have been a Debian advocate for so
long, and I'm a good programmer, and I want to contribute. Yes, I would
like to be able to say that I am a part of Debian, but no I could care less
about the email address. For fame and glory, I am already a Mechanical
Engineer, and I spent 10 years at University to become what I am. Sorry,
but Debian Developer is nothing compared to ABET Mechanical Engineer. But
Debian is my passion and I love the OS and I want to work at it, but you
can only work for free for so long before you develop an attitude, and
every time I get an attitude I go inactive -- human nature I suppose.
Well, I've cooled off, and here I am trying again to join. I'm somewhat
saddened because of how long I have used Debian, and I wouldn't use it
if I didn't like it. I won't stop using it if I don't become a DD, but
I just think that I am quite the old Debian expert, I know weird quirks
about how it works and it is like second nature to me.
No I still don't have an advocate. When I went to DebConf2 it seemed like
a college network thing... one would be a DD and advocate his friends, I
was an outsider and thus did not have the long term friendship and trust
required. There were a lot of cool people there, but the time was much
to short to develop any real friendships.
Well, I'm trying. I a package, I have the skills, I have the
correct motivations. Don't blame me for a couple cries for help because
I'm trying to get noticed here amidst this cacophany of discordance.
HEY ... PICK ME ... etc etc ... :-)
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