Re: Asking for an advocate (gURLChecker) ...
On Fri, 11 Apr 2003, Daniel Pecos wrote:
> Well, I ask for an advocate because of debian web page says this:
>
> " ...
> Applicants can find a sponsor by sending an email to
> <debian-mentors@lists.debian.org> describing their package and
> asking for a sponsor. Developers can find more information on
> how to be a sponsor in the Developer's Reference."
>
> and after of this:
>
> " Advocate:
> An existing Debian developer who recommends an Applicant. An
> Applicant can only go through the NM process after an Advocate
> has agreed with their application. The Sponsor of an Applicant
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> often acts as their Advocate once they are satisfied with the
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> Applicant's skills."
>
> so I thougth this would be a good place to get help. But it seems
> tath I'm wron, as you are saying :-(
You have quoted precisely the sections I had in mind. I think our
interpretations differ. I feel that rocking up to debian-mentors asking
"advocate me" sends the wrong signals - that you just want an advocate to
get into the project.
Think of getting an advocate as like a job interview (of sorts). You need
to convince the advocate that you are "right for the job". Luckily, you
only have to convince one out of about 900 interviewers that you should be
given a chance, unlike most companies. <grin>
> Ok, I wanted to be a packager but, you said that debian doesn't
> need more "bad" packagers like me. So i will choose anything else.
Hang on, I never said that you were a bad packager. I think you're
misinterpreting again. I said that Debian has plenty of packagers, so
simply using a package you've built as proof of "worthiness" to a potential
advocate will not get you very far. I gave other examples of how you can
show that you are committed to the project.
> and help me improving it, I wasn't asking for a DD to be "only" my
> advocate.
Unfortunately that's the way you came across. A subject of "Asking for an
advocate" doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room there.
> I know there are many packagers in debian, but it really is a
> problem??
The extra load on the computer systems if we greatly increased our
membership would be negligible (AFAICT). What is bad is the reduced trust,
and the tendency for all these packagers to bloat the archive with packages
of infinitesimal utility and then disappear.
> I will try to help a DD in order to demostrate my skills in debian,
> but no because you have told me, but because I think it could be a
> good way and I really beleive that debian is more than a distribution
> forget it just because someone has "adviced" me do anything else than
> maintaining packages.
Argh! Maintaining packages is useful work - I wish you'd stop pretending
that I said it isn't. Without packages Debian would be useless. But
packaging is an easy job - these days, anyway (autoconf and dh_make make the
vast majority of programs a doddle). I certainly won't advocate anyone
unless they can give some demonstration that they're into more than just
making packages. Fixing bugs, for instance. If you spend the time fixing
other people's bugs, then I'll assume you'd be willing to do the same for
your own. But if you take a "bugs, they're someone else[1]'s problem"
approach, what's to say that you won't think similarly about your own?
> It's really hard to do the process to be a DD, so please, don't talk
> so hardly to people who want to become DD.
Please don't take everything personally. If you think I've given you a dose
of bad salts, I'd recommend you immediately unsubscribe from debian-private
when you become a DD. Your head will explode from the not-niceness.
--
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#include <disclaimer.h>
Matthew Palmer, Geek In Residence
http://ieee.uow.edu.au/~mjp16
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