Why I do mentoring
Debian is one of the oldest and largest Linux distributions, known for its technical quality and stability. If you are a software developer, but have never tried Debian, download Debian 13 live, make a bootable USB drive and take it for a test drive.
Ubuntu, the world’s most popular Linux distribution, and many other popular contenders such as Linux Mint, MX, Pop!_OS and Zorin, are all based on Debian. Contributing to Debian is an excellent way to help improve all of these and make the Linux ecosystem better overall. That is why I have been contributing to Debian and Ubuntu since early 2000s. If you subscribe to the ideals and values of open source software and believe it makes the modern information society better for everyone, you should be contributing too.
In the spring of 2025 I quit my job to pursue working Debian development and other open source projects full-time. I am also devoting some of my time to mentor new aspiring Debian (and Ubuntu) contributors. If you want me to be your Debian Mentor, feel free to send me an email to introduce yourself.
What I expect from you
I am a good mentor for you if:
You are keen to learn what is the best possible way to do something, and want to do more than just the quick and easy thing.
You have read my blog, in particular posts tagged Debian, Git and Open Source, and you already know the basics of high-quality software engineering.
You tend to agree with the engineering principles I express in my blog, such as writing good git commit messages is important and that continuous integration testing and code reviews should be an integral part of modern open source development.
You respect my time as a limited and valuable resource, and when I spend time reviewing your Merge Requests and writing feedback, you in return spend time reading and reflecting on the feedback properly.
You use AI to enhance learning, not to replace it. It is not a good idea to use a LLM to generate a bunch of garbage and send it to somebody else to review. It is however a good idea to use LLMs to review your code and to help you debug issues and explain to you software engineering concepts and help find specific information.
You act responsibly and understand that even though we are all volunteers and Debian won’t pay you any salary, volunteering is still a commitment and comes with responsibilities. Our open source work is public and intentionally bad acts will tarnish your reputation.
You want to solve problems once and for all, literally. While working on a Debian package we often uncover problems that affect multiple other Debian packages, or that are inherited from the upstream project. Thanks to open source it is possible to find the source of any problem (pun intended) and submit a fix there, so let’s strive to do that always when feasible. It is initially more work, but will have a larger long-term impact. I operate with this mindset, and hope you adopt it too.
How I typically do mentoring
I am able to scale and efficiently mentor multiple people in parallel because I have a good workflow based on constantly checking my open Merge Requests, actively following up on them and jumping between them. I do not use the mentors.debian.net website, as I find using Merge Requests on Salsa far more efficient for submitting, reviewing, re-submitting and re-reviewing Debian packages.
Therefore I ask all my mentees to start their Debian journey by signing up for an account at Salsa, and plan their work in a way that all packaging improvements, new package versions and totally new packages result in Merge Requests we can collaborate on.
For instant messaging I prefer Matrix, and I also enjoy video or voice calls and meeting in person if possible.
Where to start?
If you haven’t read my blog before but are interested in my mentoring offer, you probably want to start by reading 10 habits to help becoming a Debian maintainer.
If you want to contribute to Debian, but don’t already have an existing itch you want to scratch, I recommend installing the how-can-i-help tool on your Debian/Ubuntu system and run it to get a list of open issues regarding software on your system, so that if you help fixing them, you will benefit from the improvements yourself directly. Open source is not about altruism but about freedom to improve things collaboratively with others and get better software for yourself.