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Now what? On FTP Master division into Archive Ops and DFSG Team

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Hello Debian,
Hello World,

Over the last month Community Team has recognized increasing concern among
the community about the ongoing process to change responsibilities over the
Debian Archive driven by Debian Project Leader - Andreas Tille.

Now that the DFSG Team delegation is official I would like us to take a
moment for us to reflect and

 - Try to address some of the concerns and confusion we've seen,
 
 - Share some of what has been happening behind the scenes and

 - Introduce the [freshly minted] team and their work so far.

[freshly minted]: https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2026/01/msg00008.html "New delegation for DFSG, Licensing & New Packages Team (superseding previous announcement) - Jan 2026"


== Context ==

I have been acting as an observer to the transition process from the start
in order to better understand the perspectives involved. I've been sitting
in on meetings between new DFSG team prospects and the DPL as well as
receiving much of the internal communication between them and the long
established FTP Master, or rather now [Archive Operations] team.

[Archive Operations]: https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2025/10/msg00003.html "New delegation for Debian Archive Operations Team - Oct 2025"

I have drafted this mail in collaboration with members of the new DFSG
Team, other members of Community Team and the DPL.


== What's going on ==

For almost *two decades* now the FTP Master delegates and their team
carried an enormous responsibility in our project:

 - Maintaining the availability and security of Debian's critical package
   archive and
 
 - Diligently reviewing each and every NEW package that enters Debian.

In short: they've been ensuring stability for the foundation Debian is
built upon.

Their work has been essential to the project, and all of us inside and
outside the Debian project owe them a great debt of gratitude.

At the same time several consecutive DPLs as well as many project delegates
have observed that FTP team has been facing increasing challenges in some
important aspects of their responsibilities:

 - Recruiting as well as retaining new team members,

 - Keeping the project as a whole informed of their activities,

 - Being open to the project's input in order to adapt to a changing world.

That state of affairs ultimately led to one team member carrying the vast
majority of, the team's ongoing package review workload.


Most recently [96.87%] of it to be exact.

For years now.

With no change in sight.

Let that sink in for a minute.


[96.87%]: https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2025/11/msg00222.html

While this level of dedication to Debian volunteer work is truly admirable
the imbalance in workload is not a hallmark of a well-functioning team and
has resisted repeated attempts at improving the situation.

Within the Debian community, there have long been complaints about the
unpredictability of NEW processing time as well as nontransparent and rigid
policy on both licensing and technical aspects.

Along with the team's existing challenges this has created palpable
frustration among Debian Developers, package Maintainers, and, reportedly,
even more far-flung members of our community alike.

While /effectively/ single-person teams are an unfortunate reality in some
areas of Debian it's simply not a sustainable state of affairs for one of
*the most foundational* areas of our project.


== A way forward ==

Over the years several DPLs have recognized the situation, but did not find
or execute on solutions instead leaving it for their successors.

Now, instead of letting us continue to avoid facing these challenges even
longer DPL Andreas has, in my view, courageously made the decision to try
and improve a very difficult situation based on a brilliant idea originally
proposed by a member of FTP team itself:

Working towards a division of responsibilities over the Debian Archive by
creating two distinct delegated roles.

Basically:

 - Debian Archive Operations - the same people as FTP Master previously

 - DFSG, Licensing & New Packages Review - led and organized by new people

In my personal view the idea itself represents a powerful compromise that
makes the best of a very difficult situation.

It has the best chance out of all the other strategies considered at
retaining the invaluable know-how accrued by the existing team and allowing
them to focus on what they already excel at: running and maintaining the
archive's technical foundation.

All while at the same time balancing their needs with the Debian
community's need for more openness, predictability and a policy-making
process for NEW package acceptance that reflects our project's shared
values.

Throughout the process of re-forming DFSG Team, delegates of Archive Team
(previously, FTP master) have been kept in the loop and were invited by
Andreas and others on the team to collaborate in a positive manner, above
and beyond what our Code of Conduct would require.


== Call for Kindness and Patience ==

Organizational changes like the one before us are never easy. People who
have had a certain responsibility for long enough it's become part of their
identity can feel hurt or even threatened by the most well-intentioned and
most carefully executed of changes.

It is clear to me hurting people or the project is not the intention of
anyone involved, yet we're all fallible humans. While we should recognize
individual limitations, we must remain kind to one another to have a chance
at continuing to work well together.

I know all involved are committed to what's best for Debian as a whole as
well as for our users and so at this difficult time I would humbly ask the
Debian community to approach the situation with a good amount of patience.

Lasting organizational change can only happen by making difficult
structural changes and, well, good things often take time, but are worth
waiting for in the end.


== What the future holds ==

Andreas has recruited what I've seen quickly become a well oiled team of
five volunteers with a combined [61 years] of experience as Debian
Developers, ready to meet the challenge of *facilitating* efficient NEW
package review, critically, not by heroic dedication, but by Debian
*working together* towards our shared goal.

[61 years]: $(( `printf '%s\n' 2001-03-09 2007-01-02 2016-12-24 2020-05-31 2023-07-22 | dateutils.ddiff today -f '%d' | tr -d '-' | numsum` / 365))

The new delegates of DFSG team have already been hard at work behind the
scenes in order to be ready to meet their new responsibilities within
Andreas' remaining DPL term.

Consequently they have been and continue to focus on implementation work
rather than outward communication.

However here are some exciting developments they've asked me to share with
everyone while they get settled:

 - The newly developed web-based review workflow for an accessible,
   efficient and modern collaborative workflow:
   
   - Review tool / Dashboard:
     https://dfsg-new-queue.debian.org/
   
   - Source and Companion CLI:
     https://salsa.debian.org/dfsg-team/dfsg-new-queue

 - Reviews, notes, rationales and critically NEW package sources will be made
   *fully public* in the future.
   "We will not hide problems", made clickable.

DFSG Team has expressed to me their confidence that real NEW processing
work can begin unimpeded very soon. Now that their delegation is official
the wheels are spinning much faster and given the pace of their progress
I've seen I believe it.


== DFSG Team is actively recruiting more DDs ==

I want to emphasize that this team's refreshing new workflow and culture
allows *anyone* to participate, just like on the Debian BTS and Salsa.

This represents a major step forward in the Debian project's accessibility
to newcomers.

 - The atmosphere in the team I've seen is friendly and inviting.
 
 - Non-DDs are welcome and they want them to be able to meaningfully
   contribute to the volunteer work.

 - The team is actively working on tooling to make the work more rewarding
   for mere mortals.

If you're a Debian Developer and value Debian's package acceptance process
being open, transparent, fast and collaborative please reach out to DFSG
team and join in!

    Team E-Mail:  dfsg-team@debian.org
    Team IRC:     #debian-dfsg @ OFTC.net
    Team Matrix:  #debian-dfsg:matrix.debian.social


== Statement by DPL Andreas Tille ==

Looking forward, the focus of the DFSG, Licensing & New Packages work will
be on making the Debian package acceptance process more transparent and
easier to understand for Debian Developers at large.

The goals are to

 - Improve process predictability by documenting criteria, clarifying
   priorities, and making the state of reviews more visible.

 - Lower the barrier for involvement, for example by enabling broader
   participation through the mechanisms originally developed in the Gateway
   to NEW project. https://salsa.debian.org/newgateway-team

By doing so, we hope to make the NEW process more sustainable, share team
knowledge more widely, and allow a shared sense of responsibility to grow
naturally within our project.

This change is intended to build on the strengths and experience already
present in Debian, while creating space for additional contributors and new
ways of working. Collaboration across teams remains essential, and
contributors with experience in archive or review work are warmly invited
to continue sharing their expertise where it is most helpful.


== Statement by DFSG Team delegate Reinhard Tartler ==

The new DFSG, Licensing & New Packages Team is genuinely excited to work
with everyone in Debian, especially including all members of the former FTP
team! Their dedication and expertise have been the backbone of our archive
for decades. We are deeply grateful for the extraordinary service they have
provided to the project and are eager to build upon the strong foundation
they have created.

As we wait for the remaining permission grants to be sorted between Archive
Team and DSA we very much look forward to continuing to learn from their
knowledge, opinions, and experience going forward.

Collaboration across teams remains essential, and we warmly invite
continued dialogue and shared work wherever it is most helpful.


== Closing a Chapter ==

I'd personally like to thank the people who stepped up to fill these
enormous shoes:

 * Andrew McMillan     (awm)
 * Emmanuel Arias      (eamanu)
 * Nicolas Mora        (babelouest)
 * Mechtilde Stehmann  (mechtilde)
 * Reinhard Tartler    (siretart)

They invested an incredible amount of work leading up to the delegation
with no guarantee that Debian would ultimately accept and adopt the
results!

I'd also like to thank all past members of the wider FTP Team, again, for
their dedicated work over the years.

Special thanks to Reinhard for help writing a first draft of this mail as
well as reviewers who prefer to remain unnamed for helping the message
shine through my rough text.

In closing I'd like to leave you with this sentiment:


I'm excited!


For the amazing possibilities yet to come when our project rediscovers what
it means to work together on our core infrastructure rather than relying
solely on a hero.

I hope that makes things clearer.

--Daniel
Debian Community Team,
Developer Relations Desk,
Through the dark corridor,
Down the missing flight of stairs,
Behind the Leopard.

---
PS: All typos and non-idiopmatic use of English are intentional - LLM use
counter-signaling ;-). If in doubt views, mistakes and misunderstandings
are mine.

PPS: Previous discourse in the FTP saga in reverse chronological order for
your follow-up research convenience:

 - ANN: Bits from the DPL, "Future of the DFSG Team" - extensive FAQ:
   https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2025/12/msg00000.html

 - ANN: Bits from the DPL, "Seeking new members for the DFSG team":
   https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2025/11/msg00000.html

 - ANN: New delegation for DFSG, Licensing & New Packages Team - Oct 2025
  (Superseded in Jan 2026):
   https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2025/10/msg00002.html

 - ANN: Bits from the DPL, "FTPmaster BoFs at DebConf"
   https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2025/08/msg00000.html

 - BoF: DC25 Reforming ftpmaster team:
   Notes: https://salsa.debian.org/debconf-team/public/data/dc25/-/raw/main/etherpad/txt/226-reforming-ftpmaster-team.txt

 - Talk: DC25 Package Acceptance in Debian: Challenges and Opportunities
   https://debconf25.debconf.org/talks/3-package-acceptance-in-debian-challenges-and-opportunities/

 - BoF: DC24 Meet the ftpteam:
   https://debconf24.debconf.org/talks/154-meet-the-ftpteam/
   Summary: https://people.debian.org/~dxld/llm-summary/debian-meetings/debconf24-402

 - ANN: Bits from the DPL, "Ftpmaster delegation" - announced planned division of roles:
   https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2025/05/msg00001.html

 - BoF: DC23 Chatting with ftpmasters
   https://debconf23.debconf.org/talks/31-chatting-with-ftpmasters/
   Summary: https://people.debian.org/~dxld/llm-summary/debian-meetings/debconf23-86

EOF

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Now what? On FTP Master division into Archive Ops and DFSG Team Daniel Gröber <dxld@darkboxed.org> - 2026-01-26 00:40 +0100

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