(non-subscriber; please keep me in CC whenever reply to this) ma 2.12.2024 klo 18.33 Andreas Tille (ti...@debian.org) kirjoitti: > Attracting newcomers > -------------------- > > In my own talk[mt3], I regret not leaving enough time for questions--my > apologies for this. However, I want to revisit the sole question raised, > which essentially asked: Is the documentation for newcomers sufficient > to attract new contributors? My immediate response was that this > question is best directed to new contributors themselves, as they are in > the best position to identify gaps and suggest improvements that could > make the documentation more helpful. > > That said, I'm personally convinced that our challenges extend beyond > just documentation. I don't get the impression that newcomers are lining > up to join Debian only to be deterred by inadequate documentation. The > issue might be more about fostering interest and engagement in the first > place. > > My personal impression is that we sometimes fail to convey that Debian > is not just a product to download for free but also a technical > challenge that warmly invites participation. Everyone who respects our > Code of Conduct will find that Debian is a highly diverse community, > where joining the project offers not only opportunities for technical > contributions but also meaningful social interactions that can make the > effort and time truly rewarding. > > In several of my previous talks (you can find them on my talks > page[mt4]--just search for "team," and don't be deterred if you see > "Debian Med" in the title; it's simply an example), I emphasized that > the interaction between a mentor and a mentee often plays a far more > significant role than the documentation the mentee has to read. The key > to success has always been finding a way to spark the mentee's interest > in a specific topic that resonates with their own passions.
>From personal experience, jumping through hoops to become a DD, or even just a DM, in a situation where I only maintain a handful of packages and randomly contribute patches to other packages (or overhaul the packaging before handing the package over to its next maintainer) simply hasn't been worth the troubles. The key problem precisely is that free software development is presented as technical challenges to overcome. As amazing as it might sound, some of us would rather focus on using the software for daily tasks and only resort to packaging or patching code because we have an immediate need to address so that we can move on with our life, and we just happen to be using Debian on our hardware. Martin-Éric
