Re: Candidates question: politics and Debian
Hi Gerardo,
Am Tue, Mar 19, 2024 at 09:38:26AM +0100 schrieb Gerardo Ballabio:
> Andreas Tille wrote:
> > > How would you as a DPL try to lead a community that focuses on producing a great distribution without getting divided on controversial topics?
> >
> > I'm not really sure in how far you consider the first statement relevant
> > to the question. If your focus is on political controverses I have a
> > clear statement: Make sure off-topic messages will be reduced to a
> > bare minimum on Debian channels (maximum is one message to invite people
> > to a non-Debian channel and mark this invitation [OT]).
>
> Limiting off-topic posts is obviously agreeable, but there's more than
> just that.
>
> Another facet of the question is: do you think that Debian should
> support and/or take action on "good causes" that aren't part of its
> stated mission (and that some people, including some DDs, might
> disagree on being "good")?
>
> For example (by no means an exhaustive list, feel free to add):
> - should Debian aim to reduce its carbon footprint and/or optimize
> software for that goal?
If this question is whether we should target for less power consumption
I consider this topic as perfectly non-controversal and part of our
mission statement. I can't imagine any user wants to spent more money
on energy to run a Debian system or might be happy about seeking for the
next power plug to recharge the laptop battery. Probably also people
who do not believe in the need to reduce the carbon footprint will be
interested in less energy consumption and I consider this as part of our
mission statement.
> - should Debian support and/or actively drive initiatives to increase
> diversity in Debian Developers, or in the software industry in
> general, or in the world at large?
I hope my platform was clear enough that I'm in favour of increasing the
diversity in Debian. This is not off-topic inside Debian. Regarding
the software industry in general or the world at large I think Debian is
not the right association to target these goals. Its a great thing if
Debian contributors are working on this and I will applause this on a
personal level. But this is nothing I consider my task as DPL nor do I
think we should discuss this topic on Debian channels. As I tried to
express: Pointing to some outside channel in some message marked OT to
inform people is OK.
> - should Debian take any measures (boycott, suspend or expel
> developers, refuse to consider as a host for Debconf...) against
> countries that are perceived by some as "behaving bad" -- as examples
> related to current events let me just mention Russia and Israel?
We are an international project and I do not think that any contributor
can be blamed about the country of origin. Please be more verbose if
my answer is not sufficient for your question.
Since you mentioned DebConf: The DebConf team has to care for the safety
of all attendees. I trust their experience in running a DebConf in
drawing the correct decision regarding this. I can warmly recommend to
join the DebConf team to get involved into the discussion about this.
> - (this is an issue that once hit me personally) should Debian enforce
> the use of a particular language with respect to gender issues?
I consider our Code of Conduct as sensibly and sufficiently worded. Our
language should be kind and respectful. I do not consider these
attributes as "particular language".
Kind regards
Andreas.
[1] https://www.debian.org/code_of_conduct
--
http://fam-tille.de
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