Debian Project

Tomasz Buchert

21 / 12 / 2013

Debian project

(in nutshell)

• Operating System
• Based on Linux (or FreeBSD!)
• Provides coherent tree of packages
• Base for Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Debian project

(history)

• Started in 1993
• Make GNU/Linux competitive with commercial OS
• 1st major distro developed openly in the spirit of GNU
• 7 major releases so far
• Named after Debra Lynn and Ian Ashley Murdock

Debian timeline

Debian logo

Something for fans of conspiracy theories...

Do you see Buzz's chin?

Success stories

Success story (1)

Debian and its derivatives are the most popular Linux distributions. See DistroWatch.

Success story (2)

Debian 6 was chosen as an operating system for International Space Station (see announcement).

Success story (3)

Debian had and has a very important impact on Open Source and Free Software movements. The very definition of Open Source is based on Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG)!

Success story (4)

Used as a default operating system for Raspberry Pi.

But what is Debian, really?

3 shades of Debian:

• a technical project:
  • building a successful distribution
  • providing over 37500 packages
• a philosophical project:
  • promoting and defending Free Software
  • with an impact on many users
• a social experiment:
  • thousands of volunteers all over the world

Debian - a technical project

TODO: technical aspect of Debian

Debian - a philosophical project

Debian Social Contract

However, there are non-free and contrib directories.

The Debian Free Software Guidelines

A funny license case

JSON license does not conform:

(...) The Software shall be used for Good, not Evil. (...)

Which part of DFSG is violated?

Free software

• Skype is not free
• Neither is Facebook or Gmail
• Do I have to remind you of NSA Prism?

Free software vs. Open Source

• Free Software (ca. 1983) is:
  • a philosophy
  • stresses the "free" aspect of software
  • led by Richard Stallman
• Open Source (ca. 1998) is a "business model":
  • stresses practical aspects
  • is less "strict" than FS
  • started by Eric S. Raymond (members include former DPLs)

Holy war - GPL vs. BSD

• GPL:
  • a copyleft license
  • derived works have the same license
  • hence the term "viral"
• BSD-like:
  • a non-copyleft license
  • derived works may or may not carry the same license
• Which one offers more "freedom"?

Xkcd reference

Debian - a social experiment

The Debian Constitution

Regulates various elements:

• structure
• decision making
• elections
• responsibilities
• ...and other things

People in Debian

Distribution of developers

Debian - is it a democracy?

• in some sense yes:Each decision in the Project is made by one or more of the following: 1. The Developers, by way of General Resolution [...] [ Debian Constitution, §2 ]
• however, it is claimed to be a meritocracy...
• ... but is also a "do-ocracy":An individual Developer may make any technical or nontechnical decision with regard to their own work; [ Debian Constitution, §3.3.1.1 ]
• well, what about "debianocracy"?

Challenges

TODO: write about current challenges in Debian

Contributing

What I like about Debian?

• Clear goals and principles:
  • Debian Social Contract
  • Debian Free Software Guidelines
  • The Debian Constitution
  • Code of Conduct (work in progress)
• State-of-the-art methods:
  • Use of cryptography
  • The Schulze method for voting
• Technical excellence (e.g., Lintian, QA)
• Its impact

Personal experience with Debian

• I adopted verbiste (Feb 2012)
• I adopted stellarium (May 2012)
• I adopted miredo (Jul 2013)
• Currently I work on hwinfo and libx86emu
• ... and other small things

Why would you join Debian?

• Learn
• Improve your CV (see this)
• Fulfill your ambitions
• Contribute back to the community

Ways to join the project

• Fill bugs!
• Check Work-Needing and Prospective Packages (WNPP)
• Join one of the teams
• Google Summer of Code

A few words of caution

If you volunteer, you must avoid burnout:

• The entry barrier may be high
• Don't overload yourself with work
• Pick tasks that suit you and reward you
• No need for another Wincenty Pstrowski
• And above all: don't panic!