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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
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<!DOCTYPE chapter PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.4//EN"
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"http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.4/docbookx.dtd" [
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<!ENTITY % commondata SYSTEM "common.ent" > %commondata;
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]>
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<chapter id="new-maintainer">
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<title>Applying to Become a Maintainer</title>
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<section id="getting-started">
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<title>Getting started</title>
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<para>
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So, you've read all the documentation, you've gone through the <ulink
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url="&url-newmaint-guide;">Debian New Maintainers'
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Guide</ulink>, understand what everything in the <systemitem
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role="package">hello</systemitem> example package is for, and you're about to
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Debianize your favorite piece of software. How do you actually become a Debian
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developer so that your work can be incorporated into the Project?
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</para>
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<para>
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Firstly, subscribe to &email-debian-devel; if you haven't
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already. Send the word <literal>subscribe</literal> in the
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<literal>Subject</literal> of an email to
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&email-debian-devel-req;. In case of problems, contact the
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list administrator at &email-listmaster;. More information on
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available mailing lists can be found in <xref linkend="mailing-lists"/>.
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&email-debian-devel-announce; is another list which is
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mandatory for anyone who wishes to follow Debian's development.
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</para>
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<para>
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You should subscribe and lurk (that is, read without posting) for a bit before
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doing any coding, and you should post about your intentions to work on
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something to avoid duplicated effort.
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</para>
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<para>
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Another good list to subscribe to is &email-debian-mentors;.
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See <xref linkend="mentors"/> for details. The IRC channel
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<literal>#debian</literal> can also be helpful; see <xref
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linkend="irc-channels"/>.
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</para>
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<para>
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When you know how you want to contribute to &debian-formal;,
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you should get in contact with existing Debian maintainers who are working on
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similar tasks. That way, you can learn from experienced developers. For
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example, if you are interested in packaging existing software for Debian, you
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should try to get a sponsor. A sponsor will work together with you on your
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package and upload it to the Debian archive once they are happy with the
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packaging work you have done. You can find a sponsor by mailing the
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&email-debian-mentors; mailing list, describing your package
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and yourself and asking for a sponsor (see <xref linkend="sponsoring"/> and
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<ulink url="&url-mentors;"></ulink> for more information on
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sponsoring). On the other hand, if you are interested in porting Debian to
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alternative architectures or kernels you can subscribe to port specific mailing
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lists and ask there how to get started. Finally, if you are interested in
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documentation or Quality Assurance (QA) work you can join maintainers already
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working on these tasks and submit patches and improvements.
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</para>
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<para>
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One pitfall could be a too-generic local part in your mailadress: Terms like
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mail, admin, root, master should be avoided, please see <ulink
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url="&url-debian-lists;"></ulink> for details.
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</para>
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</section>
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<section id="mentors">
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<title>Debian mentors and sponsors</title>
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<para>
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The mailing list &email-debian-mentors; has been set up for
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novice maintainers who seek help with initial packaging and other
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developer-related issues. Every new developer is invited to subscribe to that
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list (see <xref linkend="mailing-lists"/> for details).
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</para>
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<para>
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Those who prefer one-on-one help (e.g., via private email) should also post to
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that list and an experienced developer will volunteer to help.
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</para>
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<para>
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In addition, if you have some packages ready for inclusion in Debian, but are
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waiting for your new maintainer application to go through, you might be able
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find a sponsor to upload your package for you. Sponsors are people who are
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official Debian Developers, and who are willing to criticize and upload your
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packages for you. Please read the debian-mentors FAQ at <ulink
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url="&url-mentors;"></ulink> first.
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</para>
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<para>
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If you wish to be a mentor and/or sponsor, more information is available in
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<xref linkend="newmaint"/>.
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</para>
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</section>
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<section id="registering">
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<title>Registering as a Debian developer</title>
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<para>
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Before you decide to register with &debian-formal;, you will
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need to read all the information available at the <ulink
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url="&url-newmaint;">New Maintainer's Corner</ulink>. It
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describes in detail the preparations you have to do before you can register to
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become a Debian developer. For example, before you apply, you have to read the
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<ulink url="&url-social-contract;">Debian Social
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Contract</ulink>. Registering as a developer means that you agree with and
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pledge to uphold the Debian Social Contract; it is very important that
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maintainers are in accord with the essential ideas behind
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&debian-formal;. Reading the <ulink
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url="&url-gnu-manifesto;">GNU Manifesto</ulink> would also be
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a good idea.
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</para>
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<para>
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The process of registering as a developer is a process of verifying your
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identity and intentions, and checking your technical skills. As the number of
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people working on &debian-formal; has grown to over
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&number-of-maintainers; and our systems are used in several
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very important places, we have to be careful about being compromised.
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Therefore, we need to verify new maintainers before we can give them accounts
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on our servers and let them upload packages.
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</para>
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<para>
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Before you actually register you should have shown that you can do competent
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work and will be a good contributor. You show this by submitting patches
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through the Bug Tracking System and having a package sponsored by an existing
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Debian Developer for a while. Also, we expect that contributors are interested
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in the whole project and not just in maintaining their own packages. If you
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can help other maintainers by providing further information on a bug or even a
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patch, then do so!
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</para>
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<para>
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Registration requires that you are familiar with Debian's philosophy and
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technical documentation. Furthermore, you need a GnuPG key which has been
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signed by an existing Debian maintainer. If your GnuPG key is not signed yet,
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you should try to meet a Debian Developer in person to get your key signed.
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There's a <ulink url="&url-gpg-coord;">GnuPG Key Signing
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Coordination page</ulink> which should help you find a Debian Developer close
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to you. (If there is no Debian Developer close to you, alternative ways to
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pass the ID check may be permitted as an absolute exception on a
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case-by-case-basis. See the <ulink
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url="&url-newmaint-id;">identification page</ulink> for more
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information.)
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</para>
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<para>
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If you do not have an OpenPGP key yet, generate one. Every developer needs an
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OpenPGP key in order to sign and verify package uploads. You should read the
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manual for the software you are using, since it has much important information
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which is critical to its security. Many more security failures are due to
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human error than to software failure or high-powered spy techniques. See <xref
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linkend="key-maint"/> for more information on maintaining your public key.
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</para>
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<para>
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Debian uses the <literal>GNU Privacy Guard</literal> (package <systemitem
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role="package">gnupg</systemitem> version 1 or better) as its baseline
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standard. You can use some other implementation of OpenPGP as well. Note that
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OpenPGP is an open standard based on <ulink
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url="&url-rfc2440;">RFC 2440</ulink>.
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</para>
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<para>
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You need a version 4 key for use in Debian Development. <ulink
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url="http://lists.debian.org/20090520092534.GG22906@earth.li">Your key length must
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be greater than 1024 bits</ulink>; there is no reason to use a smaller key, and doing so
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would be much less secure.<footnote><para> Version 4 keys are keys conforming
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to the OpenPGP standard as defined in RFC 2440. Version 4 is the key type that
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has always been created when using GnuPG. PGP versions since 5.x also could
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create v4 keys, the other choice having been pgp 2.6.x compatible v3 keys
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(also called legacy RSA by PGP). </para> <para> Version 4 (primary) keys can
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either use the RSA or the DSA algorithms, so this has nothing to do with
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GnuPG's question about which kind of key do you want: (1) DSA and Elgamal, (2)
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DSA (sign only), (5) RSA (sign only). If you don't have any special
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requirements just pick the default. </para> <para> The easiest way to tell
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whether an existing key is a v4 key or a v3 (or v2) key is to look at the
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fingerprint: Fingerprints of version 4 keys are the SHA-1 hash of some key
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material, so they are 40 hex digits, usually grouped in blocks of 4.
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Fingerprints of older key format versions used MD5 and are generally shown in
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blocks of 2 hex digits. For example if your fingerprint looks like
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<literal>5B00 C96D 5D54 AEE1 206B AF84 DE7A AF6E 94C0 9C7F</literal>
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then it's a v4 key. </para> <para> Another possibility is to pipe the key into
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<command>pgpdump</command>, which will say something like Public Key Packet -
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Ver 4. </para> <para> Also note that your key must be self-signed (i.e. it
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has to sign all its own user IDs; this prevents user ID tampering). All modern
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OpenPGP software does that automatically, but if you have an older key you may
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have to manually add those signatures. </para> </footnote>
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</para>
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<para>
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If your public key isn't on a public key server such as
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&pgp-keyserv;, please read the documentation available at
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<ulink url="&url-newmaint-id;">NM Step 2:
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Identification</ulink>. That document contains instructions on how to put your
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key on the public key servers. The New Maintainer Group will put your public
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key on the servers if it isn't already there.
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</para>
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<para>
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Some countries restrict the use of cryptographic software by their citizens.
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This need not impede one's activities as a Debian package maintainer however,
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as it may be perfectly legal to use cryptographic products for authentication,
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rather than encryption purposes. If you live in a country where use of
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cryptography even for authentication is forbidden then please contact us so we
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can make special arrangements.
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</para>
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<para>
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To apply as a new maintainer, you need an existing Debian Developer to support
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your application (an <literal>advocate</literal>). After you have
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contributed to Debian for a while, and you want to apply to become a registered
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developer, an existing developer with whom you have worked over the past months
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has to express their belief that you can contribute to Debian successfully.
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</para>
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<para>
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When you have found an advocate, have your GnuPG key signed and have already
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contributed to Debian for a while, you're ready to apply. You can simply
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register on our <ulink url="&url-newmaint-apply;">application
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page</ulink>. After you have signed up, your advocate has to confirm your
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application. When your advocate has completed this step you will be assigned
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an Application Manager who will go with you through the necessary steps of the
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New Maintainer process. You can always check your status on the <ulink
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url="&url-newmaint-db;">applications status board</ulink>.
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</para>
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<para>
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For more details, please consult <ulink
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url="&url-newmaint;">New Maintainer's Corner</ulink> at the
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Debian web site. Make sure that you are familiar with the necessary steps of
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the New Maintainer process before actually applying. If you are well prepared,
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you can save a lot of time later on.
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</para>
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</section>
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</chapter>
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