Re: RFC: Changing the NM system

[Anthony Fok <foka@debian.org>]

On Sun, Dec 17, 2000 at 01:41:54PM +0100, Adrian Bunk wrote:
> On 17 Dec 2000, Chuan-kai Lin wrote:
> > without being a maintainer" and everything comes to a halt.  The
> > goals I stated for joining Debian includes: work on the Chinese
> > translation of w.d.o and help with QA work for Chinese-specific
> > packages.  Okay, enough for background information...
> 
> I haven't seen you doing any QA work until now. Did I miss something (I
> can't remember having heard anything from you at the debian-qa mailing
> list) or what are the reasons why you didn't start working on what you
> want to do if this is one of the main goals of your Debian work?

Well, you haven't heard about him doesn't mean that he wasn't doing it.  :-)

The two main packages that I know Chuan-kai has worked on fixing bugs are
cce (helping fix some buffer overflow with Fumitoshi UKAI) and wdm in
October.  He has also worked on other areas e.g. Debian Chinese Project, and
started a key-signing coordination page, as mentioned on the DWN.

> When reading it you see that writing a single manual page is enough for
> passing the current "Tasks & Skills" check to become a Debian developer.
> Sorry, but I can't resist calling this kind of skills check a joke!

Ahem, I have seen Chuan-kai's packaging and bug-fixing skills.  Chuan-kai
didn't only translate web pages.

Or perhaps you weren't referring to the my check of Chuan-kai's skill as a
"joke".  Nonetheless, I see two ideals at work here, and finding the balance
may be difficult:

  1. Raising the NM entry requirement in order to improve Debian's quality.
     Which is a very good thing.

  2. Raising the threshold too high, or even just the perceived notion,
     whether justified or not, that many NMs are unskilled, could make
     Debian more and more like an elitist society.

I am quite satisfied with the current NM process.  Of course, there is
always room for improvement, and hence the recent discussions.  Ensuring the
new maintainer possesses sufficient skills is a good thing, but we must be
careful not to overdo it.

As for me, I am just glad that I became a Debian developer over 3 years ago,
long before this was even an issue.

Cheers,

Anthony