Firstly, subscribe to debian-devel if you haven't
already. Send the word subscribe
in the Subject
of a mail to debian-devel-REQUEST@lists.debian.org.
In case of problems contact the list administrator at
listmaster@lists.debian.org.
You should subscribe and lurk for a bit before doing any coding, and you should post about your intentions to work on something to avoid duplicated effort.
If you do not have a PGP key yet generate one. You should probably read the PGP manual, as it has much important information which is critical to its security. Many more security failures are due to human error than to software failure or high-powered spy techniques.
Due to export restrictions by the United States government
some Debian packages, including PGP, have been moved to an
ftp site outside of the United States. You can find the
current locations of those packages on
ftp.debian.org
in the
/pub/debian/README.non-US
file.
If you live in a country where use of cryptography even for authentication is forbidden then please contact us so we can make special arrangements. This does not apply in France, where I believe only encryption and not authentication is forbidden.
www.debian.org
).
After that, you should send a message to new-maintainer@debian.org to register as an 'offical' Debian developer so that you will be able to upload your packages.
The message should say what you've done and who you are, and
should ask for an account on master and to be subscribed to
debian-private (the developers-only mailing list). It should
contain your PGP or RSA public key (extracted using `pgp
-kxa', in the case of PGP) for the database of keys which is
distributed on the FTP server
(doc/debian-keyring.tar.gz
). Please be sure to
sign your request message with your chosen PGP or RSA
key. In addition, you have to mention that you've read the
``Debian Social Contract'' (see above) and you are expected
to know where to find the ``Debian Policy Manual'' and the
``Debian Packaging Manual.''
Please be sure to include your preferred login name on master (seven characters or less), as well as the E-mail address at which you'd prefer to be subscribed to debian-private (typically this will be either your primary mail address or your new debian.org address).
You should also include some mechanism by which we can verify your real-life identity. For example, any of the following mechanisms would suffice:
Once this information is received and processed, you should be contacted with information about your new Debian maintainer account. If you don't hear anything within 7-10 days, please re-send your original message--the new-maintainer volunteers are typically overworked, and mistakes do occasionally happen.
debian-mentors
which has
been set up for newbie maintainers who seek help with
initial packaging and other developer-related issues.
Every new developer is invited to subscribe to that list (see Mailing lists, section 2.1 for details).
Those who prefer one-on-one help (e.g., via private emails) should also post to that list and an experienced developer will volunteer to help.