Re: to DPL candidates: How do you plan to represent Debian externally?
Paul Tagliamonte <paultag@debian.org> writes:
> I'd ask the DPL candidates to speak a bit about how they intend to
> represent Debian externally -- both in terms out downstream outreach, as
> well as upstream (or even side-stream) relations.
Like I expressed earlier, elsewhere, I believe that representing Debian
is a task that can - and often should - be given to those most
appropriate for the task. Who and why is most appropriate, depends on a
lot of things, like availability, familiarity with the topic or
audience, requirements coming from the organisers, and so on and so
forth.
That is to say, if elected, I will not be able to represent Debian on
every front, nor do I feel that this should be expected from the DPL.
What I would like to have, however, is sending the best people to
represent Debian to events where they can do that best, no matter
whether that event is downstream, upstream or even side-stream.
(Of course, this does not mean I plan to hide behind a curtain, I do
love the sound of my own voice, and I'm not afraid to use it either,
when it is appropriate to do so.)
> What sort of plans do you have to collaborate with other F/OSS
> communities? Other distros?
We, as a project, need to be more visible, more approachable. We also
have a lot of people who do upstream work. These two things should be
used to further our cause, to strengthen the bond between Debian and
other communities.
We should coordinate with and talk to our upstreams to make both our
lives easier, and with downstreams too, for similar reasons. The less
work each of us has to do, the better it will be for all of us, and our
users.
We have people among us who did great work in this area in the past, if
elected, I'd encourage their continued effort, and count on their help
too, to move things along. Perhaps we could even have Liaisons, or at
least a dedicated contact point towards distros and communities, to make
ourselves easier to reach, and the work more scalable.
> Realtedly, what sort of messaging (on this topic) can we expect
> from the future DPL?
I plan to keep in touch with distros and communities we're already in
touch with, and open channels towards others where we're not present
yet. These channels should be nurtured, and ideally vibrant and
active. As DPL, I would make it an important recurring task to review
the state of our relationships with others, and step in if necessary -
either to intervene and mediate, or to give a little push.
As for representing Debian - if elected, whenever there's an opportunity
to represent Debian somewhere in an official role, I would strive to
find the most appropriate person, and encourage them to take on the task
(or do it myself, if I happen to be the most appropriate one). Of
course, all this would be done in a transparent manner, by way of
delegating the task in the end.
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