[continued from previous message]

agree that it’s more complex than that.<br>

I sometimes wonder whether Debian’s success contributes to the problem.<br> >From the outside, things may appear to “just work”, which can lead to<br> the impression: “Debian is doing fine without me--they clearly have<br> everything under control.” But that overlooks how much volunteer effort<br> it takes to keep the project running smoothly.<br>

We should make it clearer that help is always needed--not only in<br> packaging, but also in writing technical documentation, designing web<br> pages, reaching out to upstreams about license issues, finding sponsors,<br>
or organising events. (Speaking from experience, I would have<br>
appreciated help in patiently explaining Free Software benefits to<br>
upstream authors.) Sometimes we think too narrowly about what newcomers<br>
can do, and also about which tasks could be offloaded from overcommitted<br> contributors.<br>

In fact, one of the most valuable things a newcomer can contribute is<br> better documentation. Those of us who’ve been around for years may be<br>
too used to how things work--or make assumptions about what others<br>
already know. A person who just joined the project is often in the best<br> position to document what’s confusing, what’s missing, and what they<br> wish they had known sooner.<br>

In that sense, the recent “random new contributor’s experience” posts<br> [m01] might be a useful starting point for further reflection.  I think<br>
we can learn a lot from positive user stories, like this recent<br>
experience of a newcomer adopting the courier package. I&#39;m absolutely<br> convinced that those who just found their way into Debian have valuable<br> perspectives--and that we stand to learn the most from listening to<br> them.<br>

We should also take seriously what Russ Allbery noted in the discussion:<br> “This says bad things about the project&#39;s sustainability and I think<br> everyone knows that.” [m02] Volunteers move on--that’s normal and<br> expected. But it makes it all the more important that we put effort into<br> keeping Debian&#39;s contributor base at least stable, if not growing.<br>


[m01] <a href="https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2025/06/msg00055.html" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2025/06/msg00055.html</a><br>
      <a href="https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2025/06/msg00105.html" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2025/06/msg00105.html</a><br>
[m02] <a href="https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2025/06/msg00073.html" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2025/06/msg00073.html</a><br>


Project-wide LLM budget for helping people<br> ==========================================<br>

Lucas Nussbaum has volunteered to handle the paperwork and submit a<br>
request on Debian’s behalf to LLM providers [l01], aiming to secure<br> project-wide access for Debian Developers. If successful, every DD will<br>
be free to use this access--or not--according to their own preferences.<br>


[l01] <a href="https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2025/06/msg00060.html" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2025/06/msg00060.html</a><br>


Kind regards<br>
    Andreas.<br>

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