summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/en/welcome/what-is-debian.xml
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
authorJoey Hess <joeyh@debian.org>2005-10-07 19:51:38 +0000
committerJoey Hess <joeyh@debian.org>2005-10-07 19:51:38 +0000
commit1ea73eea5ecc6a8ed901316049259aee737ee554 (patch)
tree03a077f0b1b1548f3c806bd1c5795964fba0fb52 /en/welcome/what-is-debian.xml
downloadinstallation-guide-1ea73eea5ecc6a8ed901316049259aee737ee554.zip
move manual to top-level directory, split out of debian-installer package
Diffstat (limited to 'en/welcome/what-is-debian.xml')
-rw-r--r--en/welcome/what-is-debian.xml112
1 files changed, 112 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/en/welcome/what-is-debian.xml b/en/welcome/what-is-debian.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..dcd384c65
--- /dev/null
+++ b/en/welcome/what-is-debian.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+<!-- retain these comments for translator revision tracking -->
+<!-- $Id$ -->
+
+ <sect1 id="what-is-debian">
+ <title>What is Debian?</title>
+<para>
+
+Debian is an all-volunteer organization dedicated to developing free
+software and promoting the ideals of the Free Software Foundation.
+The Debian Project began in 1993, when Ian Murdock issued an open
+invitation to software developers to contribute to a complete and
+coherent software distribution based on the relatively new Linux
+kernel. That relatively small band of dedicated enthusiasts,
+originally funded by the
+<ulink url="&url-fsf-intro;">Free Software Foundation</ulink>
+and influenced by the
+<ulink url="&url-gnu-intro;">GNU</ulink>
+philosophy, has grown over the years into an organization of around
+&num-of-debian-developers; <firstterm>Debian Developers</firstterm>.
+
+</para><para>
+
+Debian Developers are involved in a variety of activities, including
+<ulink url="&url-debian-home;">Web</ulink>
+and <ulink url="&url-debian-ftp;">FTP</ulink>
+site administration, graphic design, legal analysis of
+software licenses, writing documentation, and, of course, maintaining
+software packages.
+
+</para><para>
+
+In the interest of communicating our philosophy and attracting
+developers who believe in the principles that Debian stands for, the
+Debian Project has published a number of documents that outline our
+values and serve as guides to what it means to be a Debian Developer:
+
+<itemizedlist>
+<listitem><para>
+
+The
+<ulink url="&url-social-contract;">Debian Social Contract</ulink> is
+a statement of Debian's commitments to the Free Software Community.
+Anyone who agrees to abide to the Social Contract may become a
+<ulink url="&url-new-maintainer;">maintainer</ulink>.
+Any maintainer can introduce new software into Debian &mdash; provided
+that the software meets our criteria for being free, and the package
+follows our quality standards.
+
+</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>
+
+The
+<ulink url="&url-dfsg;">Debian Free Software Guidelines</ulink> are a
+clear and concise statement of Debian's criteria for free software.
+The DFSG is a very influential document in the Free Software Movement,
+and was the foundation of the
+<ulink url="&url-osd;">The Open Source Definition</ulink>.
+
+</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>
+
+The
+<ulink url="&url-debian-policy;">Debian Policy Manual</ulink> is an
+extensive specification of the Debian Project's standards of quality.
+
+</para></listitem>
+</itemizedlist>
+</para><para>
+
+Debian developers are also involved in a number of other projects;
+some specific to Debian, others involving some or all of the Linux
+community. Some examples include:
+
+<itemizedlist>
+<listitem><para>
+
+The
+<ulink url="&url-lsb-org;">Linux Standard Base</ulink>
+(LSB) is a project aimed at standardizing the basic GNU/Linux system,
+which will enable third-party software and hardware developers to
+easily design programs and device drivers for Linux-in-general, rather
+than for a specific GNU/Linux distribution.
+
+</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>
+
+The
+<ulink url="&url-fhs-home;">Filesystem Hierarchy Standard</ulink>
+(FHS) is an effort to standardize the layout of the Linux
+file system. The FHS will allow software developers to concentrate
+their efforts on designing programs, without having to worry about how
+the package will be installed in different GNU/Linux distributions.
+
+</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>
+
+<ulink url="&url-debian-jr;">Debian Jr.</ulink>
+is an internal project, aimed at making sure Debian has something to
+offer to our youngest users.
+
+</para></listitem>
+</itemizedlist>
+
+</para><para>
+
+For more general information about Debian, see the
+<ulink url="&url-debian-faq;">Debian FAQ</ulink>.
+
+</para>
+
+ </sect1>
+