Project:ComRel/Developer Handbook/Staff member policy
This document is outdated - the distinction between staff member and developer no longer exists. Every project member is considered a developer and will complete a quiz and receive access appropriate to their area of contribution.
This section outlines recruitment and retirement policies for Gentoo staff members.
Introduction
Running a Linux distribution has multiple aspects and many of them aren't directly connected to coding. Every distribution needs people to run its servers, help its community, provide documentation, handle project's finances and legal issues and serve many other tasks. Their contributions are as important as code contributions. These developers are called staff members in Gentoo.
Types of staff members
The following list contains all types of staff members we are currently recruiting in Gentoo:
- Gentoo Infrastructure project members
- Gentoo Handbook maintainers and translators
- Gentoo Magazine editors and translators
- Gentoo Forums global moderators and administrators
- Gentoo Community Relations members
- Gentoo Public Relations members
- Gentoo Security GLSA coordinators
- Gentoo Foundation officers
If the project you want to contribute to as a staff member isn't on this list and you think it should, please contact Community Relations about policy change.
How is staff member access different from ebuild developer access?
Access is assigned based on the responsibilities of the Staff Member. All Gentoo Developers are provided with an gentoo.org mail address, ssh access to dev.gentoo.org (for shell, ldap, public_html, etc.) as well as git access to gentoo's web/project pages. As a staff member you will not be granted access to the ebuild tree, as ebuild developers are, but may be granted access to other area's based on your need and responsibilities.
How can I become a Gentoo staff member?
You have to work with members of the project you wish to help. You are invited to the team when your level of contributions and expertise justify you becoming a developer in that project. It may take time and may also require passing internal recruitment procedures within that project first. Those procedures are in place to ensure you know what your future function within Gentoo involves, they are created and maintained by the project itself.
When you are ready, you will need to look for a mentor and a developer bug will be filed for you after your mentor has approved your staff quiz. Once a recruiter has been assigned to your developer bug, both of you will need to schedule your review. Please see the mentoring guide for more information.
As a staff member who isn't going to work on ebuilds, you won't be asked technical questions about them. All that will be required from you at this stage of your recruitment is a good understanding of Gentoo internals.
I would like to be recruited as a staff member but also plan joining other projects in future
Every Gentoo developer can join any project (s)he wishes if developers of the project agree with that. Before you can start contributing to the ebuild tree though, you will have to apply for ebuild developer recruitment. This means you need a mentor, a history of technical contributions (bug fixes, overlays, etc...) and adequate training. Please contact recruiters about this.
How is retirement handled for staff members?
You have to either remain active within the project you have joined or move to other projects. If there are no projects within Gentoo you're active in, you are subject for retirement via Gentoo Retirement Team procedures.
This page is based on a document formerly found on our main website gentoo.org.
The following people contributed to the original document: Seemant Kulleen, Shyam Mani, Karl Trygve Kalleberg, Mike Frysinger, Alastair Tse, Paul De Vrieze, Nicholas D. Wolfwood, Marius Mauch, Daniel Black, Wernfried Haas, Chrissy Fullam, Łukasz Damentko, Daniel Robbins, Markos Chandras, John P. Davis, Tim Yamin, Jorge Paulo, Zack Gilburd, Benny Chuang, Erwin, Jon Portnoy, Carl Anderson, Donny Davies, Peter Gavin, Dan Armak, Owen Stampflee, and Ciaran McCreesh on December 7, 2011
They are listed here because wiki history does not allow for any external attribution. If you edit the wiki article, please do not add yourself here; your contributions are recorded on each article's associated history page.