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<chapter id="contributing"><title>Contributing to the Debian Project</title>
<para>
<ulink url="&url-debian-donation;">Donations</ulink> of time (to
develop new packages, maintain existing packages, or provide user support),
resources (to mirror the package and WWW archives), and money (to pay for new
testbeds as well as hardware for the archives) can help the project.  See also
<ulink url="&url-debian-help;">How can you help Debian?</ulink>.
</para>
<section id="contrib"><title>How can I become a Debian member/Debian developer?</title>
<para>
The development of Debian is open to all, and new users with the right skills
and/or the willingness to learn are needed to maintain existing packages which
have been "orphaned" by their previous maintainers, to develop new packages, to
write documentation, to do translation work, to help with the Debian website,
to provide user support, etc.
</para>
<para>
Volunteers can participate in the project as Debian contributor, Debian
maintainer, or as a Debian developer (with or without uploading privileges):
</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
Debian contributors participate in many tasks, such as: writing documentation,
maintaining the website, translating, supporting users, reviewing bug reports,
or participating in different teams. It is an unofficial role and it is usually
the starting point for many people.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Debian maintainers maintain one or more specific packages and can upload these
packages directly to the archive without requiring another Debian developer (or
maintainer) to sponsor them.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Debian developers is the full membership role in Debian. A developer can
participate in Debian elections, can log into most of the systems Debian
manages, and can upload any package to the archive. This role is provided after
a strict and thorough process.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>
The website provides more information on <ulink
url="https://www.debian.org/devel/join/">how to join the project</ulink>.  The
description of becoming a Debian maintainer can be found at the <ulink
url="https://www.debian.org/devel/join/newmaint">New Member's Corner</ulink> at
the Debian web site.</para>
<para>Debian uses Salsa (<ulink
url="https://salsa.debian.org/">salsa.debian.org</ulink>), a GitLab instance,
for collaborative development where anyone can sign up and send Merge
Requests.</para>
</section>

<section id="contribresources"><title>How can I contribute resources to the Debian project?</title>
<para>
Since the project aims to make a substantial body of software rapidly and
easily accessible throughout the globe, mirrors are needed.  It is desirable
but not absolutely necessary to mirror all of the archive.  Please visit the
<ulink url="https://www.debian.org/mirror/size">Debian mirror size</ulink> page
for information on the disk space requirements.
</para>
<para>
Most of the mirroring is accomplished entirely automatically by scripts,
without any interaction.  However, the occasional glitch or system change
occurs which requires human intervention.
</para>
<para>
If you have a high-speed connection to the Internet, the resources to mirror
all or part of the distribution, and are willing to take the time (or find
someone) who can provide regular maintenance of the system, then please contact
<email>debian-admin@lists.debian.org</email>.
</para>
</section>

<section id="supportingorganizations"><title>How can I contribute financially to the Debian project?</title>
<para>
Donations from sponsors allow Debian to have machines, as well as other
hardware, organise conferences and development sprints, amongst other things.
For more information please visit <ulink
url="&url-debian-donation;">Debian Donations</ulink>.  The page also
lists the different methods that can be used to donate.
</para>
<para>
One can make individual donations to organizations that are critical to the
development of the Debian project.  The main organization is Software in the
Public Interest, incorporated in the United States, but there are others.
</para>
<section id="SPI"><title>Software in the Public Interest</title>
<para>
Software in the Public Interest (SPI) is an IRS 501(c)(3) non-profit
organization based in the United States.  The purpose of the organization is to
develop and distribute free software.
</para>
<para>
It encourages programmers to use the GNU General Public License or other
licenses that allow free redistribution and use of software, and hardware
developers to distribute documentation that will allow device drivers to be
written for their product.
</para>
<para>
SPI acts as a fiscal sponsor to many free and open source projects.  The Debian
project has been an associate project since the organization's creation.
</para>
<para>
SPI can be reached at: <ulink url="https://www.spi-inc.org/"/>.
</para>
</section>

<section id="TrustedOrgs"><title>Other organizations</title>
<para>
There are a number of organizations created in different countries that hold
assets in trust for Debian.  The <ulink
url="&url-debian-donation;">donations page</ulink> lists the trusted
organizations individuals can donate to.  At the time of this writing there are
two of them: the <ulink
url="https://france.debian.net/">Debian France Association</ulink> (in France),
and <ulink url="https://debian.ch/">debian.ch</ulink> (Switzerland and the
Principality of Liechtenstein).  Additional affiliate organizations in other
countries are listed in <ulink
url="https://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Auditor/Organizations">Organizations</ulink>
page in the Debian Wiki.
</para>
</section>

</section>

</chapter>
