still don't have a title

On Debian Maintainers

When voting on the current Debian Maintainers General Resolution, I think it’s worth to think about the following questions: What is the difference between a Debian Maintainer and a Debian Developer? Who is interested in becoming a Debian Maintainer and not a Debian Developer and why? Will this Debian Maintainer class really improve the situation for New Maintainers?

I suppose most of our New Maintainers will aim to become a Debian Maintainer just to bridge the time until they’re full Debian Developers. And I predict that this is also the major target audience for this new Debian Maintainers class. Some people said on -vote that there are people actually interested in becoming a Debian Maintainer and not a Debian Developer. Personally I find their reasons questionable, but after all I suppose there won’t be many people going this route. On the other side, I don’t see how this new class enhances the situation for the New Maintainers. Now they not only wait for the Application Manager, Front Desk and Debian Account Managers – No, now they will also search for someone who advocates them to become a Debian Maintainer and have to wait for their key being added to the Debian Maintainers keyring.

So my question is: If this General Resolution mainly helps New Maintainers, why must it be so complicated? Why another class of contributers, all those complicated rules to set it up and this additional layer of bureaucracy? Why don’t we aim for something simple, like improving our New Maintainer process. I would rather see some of those Debian Maintainer rights granted to New Maintainers after a certain point in their New Maintainer career, but not in this complicated and overengineered way the Debian Maintainer class proposes.