This page is in draft, and intended to become a process equivalent to the step before the New Member process... A 'new designer' process can be split into two parts. It is meant to guide and inform, be fun and be completed with the help of a mentor - like the nm process. The first part can be for absolute beginners, and is simpler and can create a sort of a 'front door' to a very bottom-up project. The second part can be more involved, more similar to the nm process, and be specialised for specific roles. We can start with the simpler one and design the more specialised process over time. For queries or input please contact indiebio on IRC.

So you're new to Debian? Thinking of getting involved?

Maybe you heard about privacy, maybe you want an alternative operating system to a Windows or Mac, maybe you want to level up you gaming rig, maybe you want to impress a friend... this page hints at the things that will make your FOSS journey easier, and guide you to contribute to Debian more productively.

TODO add hyperlinks to all the things.

Comments and additions welcome

Admin

FOSS Online identity 101.

Creating your first foray into the free world: What do you look line online? These are the things you need to participate in online Debian-related activities.

Email account. Ideally a FOSS one like <I don't know>, but any one will do, at least to get started.
Wiki account - you need this to edit and contribute wiki articles related to Debian. This is not the same as Wikipedia's login.
Salsa account - you need this to register for conferences and other things
Gitlab account - a nice way to store things online that you are working on and collaborating with others
SSH
Key signing - PGP security and encryption
IRC, and ideally an IRC client too - this is the old-school way of chatting on the internet. To newbies it seems odd and old-fashioned and low-tech, but it has a surprising way of growing on you. This is how most of the informal communication happens.
Better web browser and why
Better search engine and why

How to stay in touch

IRC is where the fun happens. #debconf is chatty year-round <<>> Mastodon?

Controversies to avoid as a beginner

Debianites are a weird bunch. Anarchists in the best way. The project and the way it functions has evolved over a few decades to work the way it does, and there are many, mainly good, reasons behind why it works that way. The problem with such a bunch of eccentrics is that it literally takes a few years to figure all this out. Save yourself flamewars, stay on the sidelines on these issues, observe and learn. When you feel ready to engage, pick a patient, articulate mentor - there are many of these around, to bounce your ideas and arguments off.

Flamewars

Flamewars are vicious disagreements typically held over email. The people probably don't intend to sound so mean but these discussions cause a lot of noise, and at least a few people have left the project because this simply became too much. Do not engage with them, and for the love of everything that is good don't start any. Save your reply in draft, then wait 24 hours, read your draft and then decide to send. Really. No, really, I'm dead serious. And please try not to get discouraged by them - find a one-on-one person (e.g. on IRC) to explain why the conflicting parties feel the way they do. At least it is virtually guaranteed that both parties have good points, and that gives a bit of compassion that helps you tolerate the mess.

So, some controversies:

How the mailing lists work (this is a point of contention all on its own, causing flamewars occasionally on said same mailing lists)

How to get involved

Being new to Debian means there is a lot of context about how critical components fit together, that takes time to get to know. This means that you unfortunately cannot join the Kernel team or the Release team straight away.

What got you here, to the Debian project? Pick something that is important to YOU, and wrestle with that. Contribute in a way that adds value to both you, and the project.

Come to a DebConf - our annual Debian Conference. Volunteer to do all sorts of trivial and less trivial things, and ask lots and lots of questions, silly, serious, philosophical ... this is the fast-track to mastering Debian.

Become a package maintainer. This is the core of the technical component of Debian.

Things NOT to do

Debian is a do-ocracy. Expressing opinions on how others should conduct their affairs when you're not willing to get your hands dirty in some way is unhelpful, unkind and unfair. Think really hard about what value you are trying to contribute. Of course, offering opinions on IRC is open for all.

As a beginner, or anywhere that you do not necessarily understand the context, please do not offer strong opinions about how someone is doing things wrong and should be doing them differently. A more positive approach would probably be to to sit back and see how things work, then make suggestions when you understand the issues at play. It also needs people to do the work to make change happen. Get involved to understand why things are working in this way before you try to change them. Not just the technical work, but the discussions, lobbying etc., and then the maintenance.

Once you realise that you can hack and change things to make them work better for you, things like identity, gender identity, well .. everything ... seems a lot more fluid. There are people who are at all stages of their own personal discovery. Let them discover. Be respectful, compassionate. If you don't understand how pronouns work, ask someone, but definitely do not bulldoze over how other people wish to represent themselves. Doing something inappropriate and then brushing it off as 'only a joke' is definitely a bad thing. Do not expect to get educated on this; do your own homework and then have a discussion if you need clarification.

Do not ask questions when really you just want someone to do the work for you. They won't answer you and they won't do it for you either - this is a do-ocracy, not a labour-camp. When you need to learn something, try to figure out as much as you can yourself, and then ask specific questions to get you to the next step. Do the work. Debianites really like specific questions and love helping, as this very often this leads down a path of solving challenges, so ask away. But do your own preparation as well.

FAQs

How do I become CEO of Debian?

Debian is a volunteer project full of anarchists, in the original sense of the word. Anarchists don't have CEOs. If you mean the Debian Project Leader (DPL), you need a vision and a clear understanding of how Debian works - and this needs many years of being active in the project.

What is Debian's plan for world domination?

A frequent early question is how does Debian plan to gain market share / compete with Microsoft, etc etc. This question is misguided. Debian is about building the ecosystem that includes the big companies, and it is not bothered by what the market does, or profit. It is about playing, and contributing to solve common shared problems such as infrastructure problems. Like open source software in general, it helps to enhance trust in interoperability through transparency. That doesn't mean you can't use Debian in business, but that is a different question. Debianites are, however, quite well prepared to survive the apocalypse, whatever forms it takes. Probably.

OK, so how can you use Debian and Free and Open Source to make money?

Open source software can also have important economic and social impacts. OSS brings the opportunity to citizens to create and add value. Traditional access to technology alone limits them to the role of passive consumers in the knowledge community, while the ability to create transforms them into active participants. OSS provides an excellent training environment that enables this ability to create and increases the earning capacity of community participants without any explicit investment in training and perhaps a novel form of technology transfer. [this was written by someone - find this reference]

What computer language is the best to code in to contribute to Debian?

Whatever you feel like. You can contribute in your web browser. You don't even need to code at all, documentation and social aspects also need help, for example. If you do want to get into programming, Python may be a good choice, but it does have a steep learning curve. If you do not need to get into programming, don't learn how to code; the world has moved on.

What is a BoF?

There is an English language saying Birds of a feather, stick together. It means that people who share an interest feels a sense of belonging, or something like that. So the Birds of a Feather [BOF] sessions are discussion sessions of a particular topic.

More terms can be found in the Debian Glossary.

What is a bike-shed?

to be completed.

What does 'shaving the yak' mean?