I, Gerfried Fuchs, apply for upload rights for packages beep, irssi and logcheck.

Who I am

I am a Debian Developer since June 2000 and was involved in various different areas since. I maintain a fair amount of packages, am part of the Debian Webmaster team and am trying to minimize the amount of open security issues in squeeze-backports besides my job as Backports Team member. I am also admin for the Games Team (Games Team in Debian wiki, Games Team in Launchpad). Also I am responsible these days for the packages sites, both in Debian and Ubuntu.

My Ubuntu story

I maintain a fair amount of packages within Debian and got feedback from some users about issues with my packages in Ubuntu. This got me interested to subscribe to the derivates keyword on the Debian PTS to receive ubuntu diffs for my packages, and started to go through the launchpad bugs of my packages, closing them when they were invalid and try to address them in my packages. I also approached people who were producing Ubuntu diffs for my packages to be invited to forward them to me so the diff isn't needed and reduce the workload in Ubuntu.

I got involved with the Debian Derviatives Frontdesk and try to help people from both distributions where there is understanding differences.

My involvement

Examples of my work / Things I'm proud of

I am tracking the bugreports of my packages not only in Debian but also in Ubuntu. I managed to convince some people that it is actually worthwhile to forward bugs to Debian to recude the workload within Ubuntu because there is no need for merge requests anymore and checking wether they still apply cleanly. Also I am known for regularly answer questions on IRC (#ubuntu-motu, #debian-ubuntu). I also do some translation work through launchpad.

Areas of work

I have a fair amount of package in Debian to care of, but I am also admin for the Games Team (combined Debian/Ubuntu group), both in Debian and in Launchpad, and I joined the German translation team in launchpad, taking care of at least gtg translation but scanning through others too from time to time.

For the packages I request PPU I am responsible for them within Debian, so it feels only natural to have upload rights for them within Ubuntu directly, too.

Things I could do better

Have more time. I figure I might need to reduce the amount of my interests to perform better in specific area. It's though hard to leave things behind when one knows that noone else might be interested to pick them up.

Plans for the future

General

Continue what I am already doing, and potentially request a bit more backports and be more pushy in that respect. It's sad to see this service to have a rather neglected view within Ubuntu, it's rarely used, and given that the processing and approval of it takes a fair amount of time, it's hard to blame people not trying it at all.

What I like least in Ubuntu

That some decisions that happen top-down are hardly understandable and thus not easy to live with.

Comments

If you'd like to comment, but are not the applicant or a sponsor, do it here. Don't forget to sign with @SIG@.

Endorsements

As a sponsor, just copy the template below, fill it out and add it to this section.

Paul Sladen

Support. The Debian eco-system benefits greatly from those you can pro-actively work across derivative lines. I hope that Rhonda feels willing and able to apply for full Ubuntu main access shortly afterwards, to mirror the level of contributions made to Debian main for over a decade. -- sladen 2011-06-28 14:54:10

ScottKitterman

General feedback

I sponsored IRSSI for Rhonda. The package was correct and ready for upload without issue. As a DD, Rhonda is well versed in the technical aspects of packaging. Rhonda is also very active in #ubuntu-motu and has a good understanding of both social expectations in Ubuntu and how Ubuntu releases are organized (freezes, review processes, Ubuntu unique requirements, etc).

Specific Experiences of working together

Most of our interactions have been on IRC and not in a sponsorship context. As I mentioned, IRSSI was ready for upload. There have also been some good discussions about how backports work in both Debian and Ubuntu.

Areas of Improvement

Rhonda could have been pushier about getting me to fill this out. Definitely recommended for PPU.

TEMPLATE

== <SPONSORS NAME> ==
=== General feedback ===
## Please fill us in on your shared experience. (How many packages did you sponsor? How would you judge the quality? How would you describe the improvements? Do you trust the applicant?)

=== Specific Experiences of working together ===
''Please add good examples of your work together, but also cases that could have handled better.''
=== Areas of Improvement ===

CategoryPerPackageUploaderApplication