License: GPL
I have been thinking about informally going through NM (perhaps with an AM who wants some practice) for a while now (and have been procrastinating about it like many real-life DD candidates :-). I have planned on using Devotee (DEbian VOTe EnginE) as the package I use to get through NM. So, pursuant to packaging Devotee, I am trying to add a test suite to the package. In order to run a decent test, I need a set of ballots — signed ballots — at least some of which are signed by keys in the Debian key-ring. I have put together a dummy vote on my own box, with the topic being voted upon being What is your favorite color of the rainbow?. Here is the ballot. Please note that any emailed ballot is likely to end up in a GPL’d package, open for all the world to see, so please consider that before voting. Oh, and the interesting stats are here.
So, why am I embarking on this strange course of going through NM even though I am already a Debian developer? Well, I’ve been in the project since well before there was a new maintainer process. I just felt like contributing, and, one day, just emailed the devel list, and I was in. No checks, no key signatures required (not even a key was needed, unless my memory is failing me). I have a theoretical knowledge of what NM entails, but no real gut feeling for what the various stages feel like, nor how hard they are to get through.
I have always wanted to contribute to the NM effort, but I have never felt comfortable with trying to change — or even participate as an account manager — with so little understanding of what an applicant is going through.
One of the concerns with me trying to go through NM is that I would be taking valuable resources away from the list of real candidates who are stuck in the queue, and mostly for my own selfish reasons. However, I have been assured by current AM’s that adding another candidate to their list would not significantly alter their workload, so I have decided to proceed.
So please, do help develop a test suite for Devotee by voting for your favorite color. Pretty soon I shall be looking for a sponsor for Devotee, and an advocate.