[Panu Kalliokoski] > Now seriously, the reasons why a package in Debian is quite different > from a Debian package outside of Debian should be well-known enough: > ease of search and use for users and infrastructure for packaging > (such as the BTS). Those are minor things compared to the reputation of the Debian Project for doing high-quality packaging. Package quality, aided by a thorough Policy document which all maintainers aim to comply with, is what makes Debian something more than just a huge pile of free software in someone distribution's contrib directory. As such, I'm strongly opposed to anything related to letting people who don't know what they're doing stick their own packages into the archive without anyone checking them closely. > > For the rest, you're dreaming, we're not going to give vote rights > > instantly. It doesn't make any sense. > > Probably not, although I doubt there's anything horribly wrong with > it. But I would give vote rights instantly, so who is this "we" > you're talking about? Please do read the rest of this thread, Manoj gave a very good answer to this one earlier. The right to vote is the right to change the future directions and core principles (e.g., the Debian Free Software Guidelines) of the entire Project. It comes in exchange for a certain commitment to the Project that random contributors and other users have not made - even valuable contributors like the authors of GNU libc. The way to make that commitment is to become a Debian Developer. Besides, there is no value in a wide-open voting system. This is called an "Internet poll" and the results generally reflect whatever websites or blogs happen to publicise it.
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