Re: Question to all Candidates: we want more, aren't we?
On Thu, Apr 1, 2010 at 3:52 PM, Marcelo E. Magallon <mmagallo@debian.org> wrote:
> You say it would be easier if you were DPL. Why do you think
> this is the case?
It is inevitable that people will take you more seriously when you are
the appointed leader than if you are just a random developer. But
also, the ability to delegate someone to do something, which is one of
the few things that DPL can actually do, could help into establishing
the different teams that would have to be put together.
> Put in a different perspective, of the things you mention,
> what's harder to do (and why) if you don't have DPL status?
Many of those tasks could be done by anybody. Doing them all at once
is not possible, because time is finite. So, by being DPL, I could
delegate to the right teams to get the tasks done. By being just one
more DD, I'd have to choose one project and do only that one.
Changing the way we handle membership (that I listed as a possible way
to reaching more people) is something that is *not* part of my DPL
plans, it requires going through a GR that I think should be pushed by
the appropriate people (DAM and FD).
> The questions are not purely rethorical: I do believe you are
> identifying a larger and more complex issue within Debian, one
> where there's — from my POV — no agreement about whether or not
> it is an actual *problem* in the organization and if it is, what
> the solution looks like.
Uhm, I think that the lack of enough people is an identified problem
by most of the developer community. The ideas on how to fix this lack
of enough people may vary, but fact that we need to somehow get more
people to help I think it's pretty established.
> (and yes, you could argue that I'm bordering on the question of
> what do we need a DPL for, but I don't really want to go there)
We need the DPL to lead. It's not possible for one person to do
everything, we need a leader that manages to get the developers to
work together on common goals, so that it's not just a
one-person-show, but a project-wide-effort.
> If we agree that these tasks do not need DPL status, and if you
> are *not* elected DPL, will you try to push forward the things
> you mention?
I'm not sure. if I am not elected DPL, most probably I will devote as
much time as possible on getting squeeze ready for release. But I
might try to get the ball rolling for one or two of the ideas listed
in my platform.
>> * Have a constant contest of bug-fixer-of-the-month and
>> bug-reporter-of-the-month. This means listing people and the
>> bugs they fixed and/or reported (I consider reporting GOOD bugs
>> a very important task for a good release). If possible, give
>> the winners of each month some prize (t-shirt, mug, etc), if
>> not possible, at least list them in a hall of fame page.
> Just for the record, I think this is a very slippery slope.
I'm not sure why you think so, but I do acknowledge that this is a
hard thing to implement. I'd like this contest to be fair and to be
above all about making Debian better, not about personal glory, some
limitations would need to be implemented so that nobody tries to abuse
it. However, if there are well kept rules, I think that it could mean
quite a lot of motivation for a lot of people. I'm open to
suggestions on how to make this better and less slippery.
--
Besos,
Marga
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