Bug#368841: developers-reference: Explain that Debian isn't a democracy and how it works instead

"Serafeim (Serafi) Zanikolas" <[email protected]> Mon, 04 May 2026 23:02:29 +0200

Newsgroups	gmane.linux.debian.devel.policy
Message-ID	<DIA72K1NMA2U.2RUZRG2RN7GDP__33933.4126607113$1777928609$gmane$org@debian.org>

tags 368841 + patch
thanks

hi,

please find attached a patch which aims to capture Raphael's suggestions (from
20y ago!)

thanks,
serafi

0001-developer-duties-add-a-section-on-decision-making-an.patch (text/x-patch, 2.2 KB)

From 1205bdf07b89ea02dc239eb9057a02429f7291d6 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "Serafeim (Serafi) Zanikolas" <[email protected]>
Date: Mon, 4 May 2026 22:58:06 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] developer-duties: add a section on decision making and
 expected attitude

---
 source/developer-duties.rst | 27 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 27 insertions(+)

diff --git a/source/developer-duties.rst b/source/developer-duties.rst
index 5ab0cff..a628e0f 100644
--- a/source/developer-duties.rst
+++ b/source/developer-duties.rst
@@ -177,6 +177,8 @@ You can find a more in-depth discussion of Debian key maintenance in the
 documentation of the ``debian-keyring`` package and the
 https://keyring.debian.org/ site.
 
+.. _voting:
+
 Voting
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
@@ -202,6 +204,31 @@ The list of all proposals (past and current) is available on the `Debian
 Voting Information <https://www.debian.org/vote/>`__ page, along with
 information on how to make, second and vote on proposals.
 
+Decision making
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Besides the issues covered in :ref:`voting`, Debian is closer to a do-ocracy,
+than a democracy. Generally speaking, this means that decisions are taken by the
+people who do the work, which in most cases is package maintainers and `DPL
+delegates
+<https://salsa.debian.org/debian-dpl/dpl-helpers/-/tree/master/delegations>`__.
+Public discussion:
+
+-  while encouraged and may be appreciated as input to take a decision,
+
+-  is not required to take a decision,
+
+-  nor can overrule a decision (the latter is possible via a General Resolution
+   or by escalating to the Debian Technical Committee).
+
+In the spirit of do-ocracy, members of the Debian community are expected to
+contribute in concrete and constructive ways, rather than demand that others do
+any kind of work for them.
+
+For more on the social aspects of contributing to Debian, you are strongly
+encouraged to read the Debian Community Guidelines at
+http://people.debian.org/~enrico/dcg/
+
 .. _inform-vacation:
 
 Going on vacation gracefully
-- 
2.47.3

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