Proposed Debate Topics

RMS All Free Dist

In the past RMS has requested from Debian a distribution that does not include any non-free software or references to non-free software. Many ideas have been suggested to satisfy this request. What should Debian do, if anything?

NM Closing

During your term the new-maintainer processes was closed by the new-maintainer team. Many people considered their actions to be inappropriate. How should inappropriate unilateral actions by delegates/teams be treated by the project?

Growing unwieldy, AWOL maintainers and delegation issue

Debian's recent growth has been tremendous. The project has nearly doubled its size in all areas. Is this growth maintainable? Should anything be done to make Debian more scalable or to reduce the growth?

Debian BSD and Hurd

Two sub-projects within Debian are aimed at developing ports of Debian to the Hurd and BSD platforms. Some of the suggested plans would make these ports considerably different from the Linux platform. How much leeway should these ports have to deviate from the other platforms? Should Debian focus on its core Linux distribution or try to spread to many OSs?

Leadership style, contrast between iwj/bruce

Over the years Debian has had many different kinds of leadership styles, from forceful to hands off. What is the best style for the project and how much involvement should the leader have?

Multiple Hats

The position of DPL requires that the Leader wear many hats. How should the DPL deal with the dichotomy of being a Developer, Leader, Press Contact, SPI advisor, etc?

MIA Maintainers

Past experience has shown that many key areas of the project can suddenly become understaffed and backlogged. How should this be dealt with and what should be done to help prevent it from happening in the future?

tech'ctte and role, membership

While policy was being formed on the /usr/share/doc issue many people felt the policy and technical committee processes were very slow and inefficient. Should the Project Leader have taken a more active role in seeing this to conclusion or is there something wrong with the policy and technical committee processes?

Role of the Cabal

Do some people or group of people have influence or even power that is outside the constitution? If so, is it good? bad? What should be done about it, if anything? If these people don't exist, what do we do to debunk the myth of the cabal?

Position on the continuing saga of KDE

Over the course of several years issues around KDE have lept up. What are the issues preventing us from shipping KDE and how do Corel, Mandrake, Red Hat, etc avoid them? What should be done to resolve this problem? or: There has been a great deal of confusion in the user community about the continuing lack of KDE in Debian. A clear statement by the DPL is required -- what are your views on this, and how would you arrive at similar pronouncements about policy on other issues in the future? Whom shall you consult in creating your platform statement on issues like this? ** Just link to <../../../News/1998/19981008> from somewhere in whichever paragraph is chosen (I prefer the first, FWIW -- joeyh) **

Money, and Ideals

The recent run of IPOs and startups has made a lot of capital available to the free software world. How should this relate to Debian and its ideals of being a free and technically excellent distribution? How much influence should commercial entities (particularly those doing development on our base) have in the project?

The Future

The Project has enjoyed a successful past but Linux is now nearly mainstream. How will Debian react to this, and where is it headed in the future, 1, 5 and 10 years from now?