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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd"> <html lang="en"> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <title>Debian -- How to join Debian </title> <link rel="author" href="mailto:webmaster@debian.org"> <meta name="Generator" content="WML 2.32.0"> <meta name="Modified" content="2024-11-09 19:43:14"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width"> <meta name="mobileoptimized" content="300"> <meta name="HandheldFriendly" content="true"> <link href="../../debhome.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"> <link href="../../startpage.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"> <link href="../../5img-carousel-slider.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"> <link href="../../debian-en.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="all"> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico"> <meta name="Keywords" content="debian, GNU, linux, unix, open source, free, DFSG"> <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" title="Debian website search" href="../../search.en.xml"> </head> <body> <div id="header"> <div id="upperheader"> <div id="logo"> <a href="../../" title="Debian Home"><img src="../../Pics/openlogo-50.png" alt="Debian" width="50" height="61"></a> </div>  <div id="searchbox"> <form name="p" method="get" action="https://search.debian.org/cgi-bin/omega"> <p> <input type="hidden" name="DB" value="en"> <input name="P" value="" size="14"> <input type="submit" value="Search"> </p> </form> </div>  </div>   <div id="navbar"> <p class="hidecss"><a href="#content">Skip Quicknav</a></p> <ul>  <li><a href="https://bits.debian.org/" title="Bits from Debian">Blog</a></li> <li><a href="https://micronews.debian.org" title="Micronews from Debian">Micronews</a></li> <li><a href="https://planet.debian.org/" title="The Planet of Debian">Planet</a></li> </ul> </div>  <p id="breadcrumbs">  </p> </div>   <div id="content"> <h1>How to join Debian</h1> <link href="../../font-awesome.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"> <aside> <p><span class="fas fa-caret-right fa-3x"></span> We are always looking for new contributors and volunteers. We strongly encourage <a href="../../intro/diversity">participation by everyone</a>. Requirements: interest in Free Software and some free time.</p> </aside> <ul class="toc"> <li><a href="#reading">Reading</a></li> <li><a href="#contributing">Contributing</a></li> <li><a href="#joining">Joining</a></li> </ul> <h2><a id="reading">Reading</a></h2> <p> If you haven't already, you should read the sites linked on the <a href="../..">Debian start page</a>. This will help you to get a better understanding of who we are and what we're trying to accomplish. As a potential Debian contributor, please pay particular attention to these two pages: </p> <ul> <li><a href="../../social_contract#guidelines">Debian Free Software Guidelines</a></li> <li><a href="../../social_contract">Debian Social Contract</a></li> </ul> <p> A lot of our communication happens on the Debian <a href="../../MailingLists/">mailing lists</a>. If you want to get a feeling for the inner workings of the Debian project, you should at least subscribe to <a href="https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/">debian-devel-announce</a> and <a href="https://lists.debian.org/debian-news/">debian-news</a>. Both lists are low-volume and document what's going on in the community. The <a href="https://www.debian.org/News/weekly/">Debian Project News</a>, also published on the debian-news list, summarizes recent discussions from Debian-related mailing lists and blogs and provides links to them. </p> <p> As a prospective developer, you should also subscribe to <a href="https://lists.debian.org/debian-mentors/">debian-mentors</a>. Here you can ask questions about packaging and infrastructure projects as well as other developer-related issues. Please note that this list is meant for new contributors, not users. Other interesting lists are <a href="https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/">debian-devel</a> (technical development topics), <a href="https://lists.debian.org/debian-project/">debian-project</a> (discussions about non-technical issues in the project), <a href="https://lists.debian.org/debian-release/">debian-release</a> (coordinating Debian releases), <a href="https://lists.debian.org/debian-qa/">debian-qa</a> (quality assurance). </p> <p style="text-align:center"><button type="button"><span class="fas fa-envelope fa-2x"></span> <a href="../../MailingLists/subscribe">Mailing List Subscription</a></button></p> <p> <strong>Tip:</strong> If you want to reduce the number of mails you receive, especially on high-traffic lists, we offer email digests as a summary email instead of individual messages. You can also visit the <a href="https://lists.debian.org/">Mailing List Archives</a> to read the messages of our lists in a web browser. </p> <aside> <p><span class="fas fa-caret-right fa-3x"></span> You don't need to be an official Debian Developer (DD) to contribute. Instead, an existing DD can act as <a href="newmaint#Sponsor">sponsor</a> and help to integrate your work into the project.</p> </aside> <h2><a id="contributing">Contributing</a></h2> <p> Are you interested in maintaining packages? Then please have a look at our <a href="../../devel/wnpp/">Work-Needing and Prospective Packages</a> list. Here you'll find packages in need of a (new) maintainer. Taking over an abandoned package is a great way to get started as a Debian maintainer. Not only does it help our distribution, it also gives you an opportunity to learn from the previous maintainer. </p> <p> Here are some other ideas how you can contribute to Debian: </p> <ul> <li>Help us to write our <a href="../../doc/">documentation</a>.</li> <li>Help to maintain the <a href="../../devel/website/">Debian website</a>, produce content, edit or translate existing text. </li> <li>Join our <a href="../../international/">translation team</a>.</li> <li>Improve Debian and join the <a href="https://qa.debian.org/">Debian Quality Assurance (QA) Team</a>.</li> </ul> <p> Of course, there are plenty of other things you could do and we're always looking for people to offer legal support or join our <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Publicity">Debian Publicity Team</a>. Becoming a member of a Debian team is an excellent way to gain some experience, before starting the <a href="newmaint">New Member</a> process. It's also a good starting point if you're looking for a package sponsor. So, find a team and jump right in! </p> <p style="text-align:center"><button type="button"><span class="fa fa-users fa-2x"></span> <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/Teams">List of Debian Teams</a></button></p> <h2><a id="joining">Joining</a></h2> <p> So, you've contributed to the Debian project for some time and you want to join Debian in a more official role? There are basically two options: </p> <aside> <p><span class="fas fa-caret-right fa-3x"></span> The Debian Maintainer (DM) role was introduced in 2007. Until then, the only official role was Debian Developer (DD). There are currently two independent processes for applying for either role.</p> </aside> <ul> <li><strong>Debian Maintainer (DM):</strong> This is the first step – as DM you can upload your own packages to the Debian archive (with some restrictions). Unlike Sponsored Maintainers, Debian Maintainers can maintain packages without a sponsor. <br>More information: <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/DebianMaintainer">Debian Maintainer Wiki</a></li> <li><strong>Debian Developer (DD):</strong> This is the traditional full membership role in Debian. A DD can participate in Debian elections. Uploading Debian Developers can upload any package to the archive. Before you become an Uploading DD, you should have a track record of maintaining packages for at least six months (for example, uploading packages as a DM, working inside a team or maintaining packages uploaded by sponsors). Non-uploading DDs have the same packaging rights as Debian Maintainers. Before you apply as a non-uploading DD, you should have a visible and significant track record of working inside the project. <br>More information: <a href="newmaint">New Members Corner</a></li> </ul> <p> Regardless of the role you choose to apply for, you should be familiar with Debian's procedures. This is why we strongly recommend reading the <a href="../../doc/debian-policy/">Debian Policy</a> as well as the <a href="../../doc/developers-reference/">Developer's Reference</a>. </p> <div class="clr"></div> </div>  <div id="footer"> <hr class="hidecss"> <p>Back to the <a href="../../">Debian Project homepage</a>.</p> <hr>  <div id="pageLang"> <div id="langSelector"> This page is also available in the following languages: <div id="langContainer"> <select onchange="location = this.value;"> <option value="" disabled selected>Select your language</option> <option value="index.da.html" title="Danish" lang="da">dansk</option> <option value="index.de.html" title="German" lang="de">Deutsch</option> <option value="index.es.html" title="Spanish" lang="es">español</option> <option value="index.fr.html" title="French" lang="fr">français</option> <option value="index.it.html" title="Italian" lang="it">Italiano</option> <option value="index.nl.html" title="Dutch" lang="nl">Nederlands</option> <option value="index.pl.html" title="Polish" lang="pl">polski</option> <option value="index.pt.html" title="Portuguese" lang="pt">Português</option> <option value="index.fi.html" title="Finnish" lang="fi">suomi</option> <option value="index.sv.html" title="Swedish" lang="sv">svenska</option> <option value="index.ru.html" title="Russian" lang="ru">Русский (Russkij)</option> <option value="index.uk.html" title="Ukrainian" lang="uk">українська (ukrajins'ka)</option> <option value="index.zh-cn.html" title="Chinese (China)" lang="zh-CN">中文(简)</option> <option value="index.zh-hk.html" title="Chinese (Hong Kong)" lang="zh-HK">中文(HK)</option> <option value="index.zh-tw.html" title="Chinese (Taiwan)" lang="zh-TW">中文(繁)</option> <option value="index.ja.html" title="Japanese" lang="ja">日本語 (Nihongo)</option> <option value="index.ko.html" title="Korean" lang="ko">한국어 (Korean)</option> <option value="index.el.html" title="Greek" lang="el">Ελληνικά (Ellinika)</option> </select> </div> How to set <a href="../../intro/cn">the default document language</a> </div></div> <hr> <div id="fineprint">  <p>See our <a href="../../contact">contact page</a> to get in touch. 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