Debian: We're not looking for commercial fortune

The Debian GNU/Linux operating system continues to generate interest from developers around the world, keen to sign up and contribute code to the open-source project now in its 15th year.

But this popularity has been a mixed blessing. The project came under fire recently when programmers who wanted to get on board were unable to sign up and become registered participants.

Some analysts foresee a less than rosy future for projects such as Debian, claiming free coding is all well and good, but that without a solid financial backing — such as the models adopted by Red Hat and to a greater degree Novell/Suse — Debian will ultimately hit a brick wall.

Elected Debian project leader on 17 April, Steve McIntyre is the man charged with leading the organisation to the next level. Despite being faced with a backdrop of organisational challenges, while at the same time working away fervently on his own Debian bug fixes and development projects, McIntyre found some time to talk ZDNet.co.uk through his vision of where the Debian project is headed.

Q: Why did you take on the role of Debian project leader, and what do you hope to bring to the development of the operating system?
A: I've got a few ideas about places where we can improve things, as I laid out in my election platform. The main issue I want to work on is communication, both within the project and externally. We're doing some really excellent work, but it's often not visible. I want to encourage all our developers and core teams to talk more about what they're doing. In my opinion, the best way to recruit more developers and users is to show off the cool stuff we're doing.

Debian author Ian Murdoch was also a founding director of the Open Source Initiative. Why do you think he saw the need for a new flavour of Linux with the particular look, feel and structure of Debian?
Ian started the project back in 1993 to make a new, openly developed, Linux-based distribution. He was very much inspired by the ideals of the GNU Project and the Linux developers at the time. He believed there was a place for a new OS developed in the same manner, designed by dedicated volunteers for themselves and everybody else to use. In many ways Debian has changed and evolved hugely over the years, but that core spirit is still the same.

In my opinion, the best way to recruit more developers and users is to show off the cool stuff we're doing

Steve McIntyre

ZDNet.co.uk recently reported on the "administrative" delays you've been experiencing surrounding community registration. What do you intend to do to tackle this issue?
I'm actually in the middle of a review of all our core teams right now, as I promised during the project leader election. There are potentially several places in Debian's core teams where we could be more active and we definitely need to be more communicative about what's going on. The furore on Planet Debian is just indicative that this review is well overdue, I believe.

I'm expecting that there'll be more news about how we're shaping up and what we need to change and improve in the next few weeks. I can't promise it will be especially interesting to anybody outside the project, though.

Debian's software-development methodology hinges around the provision of precompiled software "packages" that effectively form reusable components. How do you vet newly proposed packages, and what type of components would you like to see developed in the future?
New packages are typically proposed on our main development mailing list so other developers can comment. Depending on the package in question, that process can lead to some extended discussion. Once a developer believes he has something ready for inclusion in Debian and uploads it for the first time, a thorough review is carried out by the "ftpmaster" team. The team checks for potential licensing problems, security considerations and packaging quality. If the new software meets those checks, it's allowed in.

Personally, I'd like to see more and more end-user applications developed and improved in the future. We already have...