Three senior Debian developers have joined the race to become the leader of the GNU/Linux project for 2015-16.
Mehdi Dogguy, Gergely Nagy and Neil McGovern are vying to take over from Lucas Nussbaum who has decided not to re-contest the position after having served for two years.
Debian is the only free and open source software project that has elections for the post of project leader.
In his platform, Dogguy has said he would work on improving processes within the project if he were elected; as he puts it, "a review of our tools, mechanisms, processes and how all parties interact together. This work may benefit the project in many ways".
He also wants to broaden the image of Debian held in the wider community, initiate better change management, and improve the process of getting new people to join the project.
{loadposition sam08}Promising transparency, Dogguy also says he will put his other Debian activities on hold so he can focus on the job of leader.
Nagy, who has contested the position in the past, has a much shorter platform statement, and says he would like to take administration and bureaucracy off the shoulders of developers, so they can focus on what they do best.
"I feel that this is the most important part of being a Project Leader: to enable the project to grow. And this is why I feel that most of you not knowing my name is an advantage here: When you look at a beautiful flower, you admire the flower itself, rarely the gardener," he writes.
McGovern has also put his hand up in the past. If elected, he plans to support and enable those who do the work to get what they need, when they need it, push for implementation of personal package archives, modernise the build and infrastructure system, and promote and encourage engagement in non-packaging aspects of Debian contribution.
He also promises to engage with teams and the project on public lists.
And finally, McGovern plans to spend some of the money held by the project – Debian has US$200,000 at the non-profit Software in the Public Interest alone. "Our donators didn't give us money for it to be sat around in a bank account, we should spend it to make the project more successful," he wrote.
The campaigning period ends on March 31 and voting will take place between April 1 and 14, with the new leader to take over from April 17.