Re: New developer.
Nuno Paquete <nunopaquete@gmail.com> writes:
> I want to be a part of Debian developers team and I'm interested in
> some orphaned projects.
Thank you for your interest in helping Debian. Maintaining an orphaned
package is a very good way to help.
> How can I get GnuPG key? I don't know anybody in the team and I've
> read that I need someone to give me one.
Not quite. You need to *create* a key pair (private + public)
specifically for yourself and maintain the key pair securely
<URL:http://www.gnupg.org/gph/en/manual.html>, then collaborate with
other, existing Debian members to establish your identity with the
public part of your key.
This will usually involve meeting Debian members face to face, as many
as possible, and establishing some trusted form of identity (like a
photo passport) to associate with your GnuPG public key
<URL:http://www.debian.org/events/keysigning>.
You should research where other Debian members might meet near you;
getting together at a user group meeting, or even just a quiet drink,
can be a good way.
> I'm reading a lot about Debian developing and how to be a Debian
> developer but I have some questions to do.
> I'm thinking about doing this:
> - Read all the necessary documentation (I need to read a lot yet)
If you need a starting point, go to <URL:http://www.debian.org/doc/>
especially the “New Maintainers' Guide” and “Developer's Reference”. You
will also want to read the unofficial Debian Mentors FAQ
<URL:http://people.debian.org/~mpalmer/debian-mentors_FAQ.html>.
> - Get a GnuPG key
Be sure to read the GNU Privacy Handbook (linked above) for how to
correctly manage your key pair.
> - Submit myself as a maintainer of a project
Fortunately you can work on this while getting through all the other
stuff; even a simple package might be surprising in how much attention
to detail is required. You should expect your first package to take a
lot of learning and much peer review to get right before it is suitable
for entering Debian :-)
> Is this the correct way to start?
Creating a proper GnuPG key pair is necessary. So is reading all the
Debian developer documentation and asking questions to understand it.
Working with an existing, orphaned package can be tricky: you need to
learn how someone before you has chosen to package the work, and it
might be out of date with current practice. On the other hand, it is a
*great* way to learn Debian packaging by example, and many orphaned
packages are relatively simple to get ready.
I hope that helps; feel free to ask here again when you have a package
ready for review or more questions about how to proceed.
--
\ “I do not believe in immortality of the individual, and I |
`\ consider ethics to be an exclusively human concern with no |
_o__) superhuman authority behind it.” —Albert Einstein, letter, 1953 |
Ben Finney
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