Debian Seeking New Project Secretary

Debian organization's secretary Manoj Srivastava tendered his resignation in an email with the words, "I concede that I have made mistakes with the current set of votes... The amount of vitriol there makes it untenable for me to participate in any efforts to recover from this mess." Srivastava is referring to the recent quarrel over specifics on how to release the next GNU/Linux version named Lenny that lead to a call for votes from developers. On December 14th, the Debian project secretary had issued a First Call for Votes consisting of seven choices, including ones reaffirming Debian's social contract and requesting how to handle its free software guidelines (DFSG). The listed choices also dealt with allowing release of proprietary firmware and licensing issues. A number of project members questioned his choices and found certain contradictions. An example was a response from Steve Langasek to the General Resolution: "In light of the Secretary's claims that the above GR would give him the power to amend the text of the DFSG even though it says nothing of the sort, I would ask that the proposer withdraw this resolution."

The reaction to Srivastava's resignation was not without some backlash. Longtime colleague Bdale Garbee appealed to team members' sense of responsibility in a posting: "When Manoj and I joined the Debian project, there were only a couple dozen of us, and we indeed had a very different and more positive atmosphere." Still, he's not ready to give in to the change in climate. Quoting from Margaret Mead in her assertion that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world, Garbee said, "I've often used this quote to help explain why Free Software has been as successful as it has been to date. I think it also applies here. Each of us, individually, must accept personal responsibility for the contribution we make to the overall Debian project atmosphere. The only way we can 'get things back on track' [is to] re-focus our energy on the real reason we are all here... to create a free operating system." Debian developer and FTP master Jörg Jaspert agrees on this, still hoping the discussion will not lead to much further delay in the release. In talking to Linux Magazine Online, Jaspert commented, "Either we're all dead by the end or we'll finish Lenny and get it out the door."

As it turns out, Garbee will take over temporarily as acting secretary. In an email, project leader Steve McIntyre says that he's seeking until January 12th for volunteers to fill the vacancy.