Andreas Tille
tille@debian.org |
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1. Introduction
My name is Andreas Tille. My Debian account is tille and I served as DPL the last term.
I am married and a proud grandfather (thanks to my son and daughter-in-law). I am also a father of two adopted daughters (all thanks to Debian) and one of these daughters made me a grandfather again. My background as a physicist has given me a keen interest in practical applications of IT solutions in science. I have a lifelong passion for various sports, particularly swimming. Concerned about our environment and the climate crisis, I have dedicated myself to planting numerous trees. I am an avid cyclist and have chosen not to own a car, prioritizing sustainable transportation methods.
For me, among other things, freedom means not being available at all times. That's why I decided against owning a smartphone, for instance. Therefore, it is important for you to know that as your potential DPL, there may be times when I am offline and cannot be reached. I value freedom deeply, and I am grateful for the privilege of making choices that align with my values.
2. Why I am running for DPL
I learned a lot during my first term as DPL. My hope is to continue the work I started and, ideally, bring some of it to completion. Over the past year, I received both criticism and trust from the Debian community. I take the criticism as an opportunity to improve, and I deeply appreciate the trust placed in me. I hope to build on both in a second term.
In my last platform, I expressed some fears about taking on the DPL role. Thanks to incredible support from many people, those fears did not come to be. One concern was that I might no longer find time to contribute to the Debian Med team—but the team stepped up brilliantly. I'm grateful for their work and want to explicitly thank them for it.
I've come to realize that making significant changes within Debian in a single DPL term is not feasible—and I firmly believe this is a good thing. At the same time, I'm reminded of the quote, "If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change." (Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, The Leopard). With that in mind, I want to continue working on changes that I see as essential for Debian's future, ensuring it remains the greatest project I've ever been a part of.
3. Agenda
Balancing maintenance challenges with respect and sustainability
The majority of Debian packages are well maintained, and I am always astonished by how much volunteers achieve. At the same time, I have noticed that it is not always easy for volunteers to announce when they are struggling to keep up, for example, by saying "I can't manage this anymore—could someone please take over?" This seems to be one reason for the list of smelly packages (see Debian Trends). While working with such packages, I have learned a lot and developed ideas on how to address this in a way that both respects the efforts of long-time maintainers and benefits Debian's users.
Supporting infrastructure teams and key package maintainers
During my last term, I gained a deep appreciation for how much volunteers achieve in key positions, and I am truly grateful for their work, which forms the backbone of Debian. As I looked deeper into our processes, I identified issues that need improvement to better support our volunteers. The reason I am running for a second term is that I initially hoped these issues could be resolved quickly—but I was wrong. Now, with the experience I have gained, particularly in the social aspects of these challenges, I am committed to addressing them more effectively.
Last year, I also highlighted the need to build more redundancy into key infrastructure tasks and package maintenance. To identify specific problem areas, I reached out to various teams. While I admit that I did not sustain this effort as consistently as I had planned, I am determined to continue. I see one of the DPL's main responsibilities as reducing barriers for all volunteers. The first step is identifying those barriers; the second is working with the relevant teams to find sustainable solutions.
Face to face meetings and diversity
I strongly believe that face-to-face meetings are important for Debian, and so far, they have been my main approach to addressing geographic diversity within the project. However, it is difficult to measure success in this area. During my term, one woman completed the New Member process. While I had encouraged her to join, this was a result of my past work in Debian Med and Science—not something I would count as an accomplishment of my DPL term. I know we need to do more, and I welcome ideas on how we can make Debian more inclusive and improve diversity within the project.
Tiny Tasks: A Different Success
In my previous platform, I saw the Tiny Tasks effort as a potential way to enhance diversity. This turned out to be a wrong assumption. However, I believe it has been very effective in improving the quality of Debian packages, and I am proud of the progress made in this area. I will continue this effort—and who knows, maybe the original idea of attracting diverse newcomers will become true over time.
4. Why running again
The support I've received from so many friends has been overwhelming. If there's one lesson I've learned as DPL, it's to appreciate and take pride in being part of a global community filled with incredible people. That's actually the main reason why I'm nominating myself for a second term.
A. Changelog
This platform is version controlled in a git repository.
- 2025.2: Platform for 2025 DPL elections.