# Copyright (C) 2001 Craig Small # Copyright (C) 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 Martin Michlmayr # This file may be distributed under the GPL v2 or higher. #use wml::nmpage title="Debian New Maintainer - What the statistics Mean"

Debian New Maintainer - What do these statistics mean?


There has been some confusion about what the statistics are telling people, especially some anxious New Maintainers out there. This page explains how we generate these numbers and some common questions about them.

The important principle to remember is there is are several stages of the New Maintainer process. The front page table shows the waiting time statistic for each stage. With the exception of New Maintainers processed, which is the total time from application to becoming a new maintainer, all other times are for that stage only.

By definition, most people will be processed at each stage by the Mode times. However remember that usually Median is larger and even if you have to wait for that long, you still are progressing faster than 50% of applicants.

Below is definitions of what the various columns mean. Remember that this information is for the past two months from today. There may be people who have not yet finished a stage and have waited longer.

Count
The number of applicants that are at that particular stage.
Mode
The most common waiting time for a stage. The time most people have waited for.
Median
The middle entry, if they were sorted by waiting time. The applicant who waits for median time has half the people going faster than them and half the people going slower than them.
Average
Also called Mean. This is the sum of the waiting times divided by the number of applicants at that stage.
Maximum
The maximum time someone has waited at this stage.

As a final word, please compare the various application counts with the number of application managers. We are always looking for more Application Managers to help with the New Maintainer process.