--- /dev/null
+[[!meta title="SIPB Bug-Squashing Hackathon for Lenny"]]
+
+SIPB is running a **bug-squashing hackathon** for release-critical
+bugs in Debian Lenny.
+
+Place: **W20-557**, the SIPB office
+Date: **Saturday**, 2008-12-13, between end-of-classes and finals week
+Time: starting **2 PM**, running to about 10 PM; come for any portion
+
+Contact the SIPB Chair, Greg Price (`price@mit.edu`), or Vice-Chair,
+Nelson Elhage (`nelhage@mit.edu`), with any questions. During the
+hackathon just call the office at (617) 253-7788.
+
+
+## FAQ
+
+**Q**: What's Lenny?
+**A**: Lenny is the **upcoming next stable release** of Debian
+GNU/Linux. It was scheduled for September 2008 but has slipped to
+spring 2009. The last release was Etch in spring 2007, so Debian
+users are eagerly awaiting a new release.
+
+**Q**: What's a release-critical bug?
+**A**: A **release-critical (RC) bug** is a Debian bug of any of
+the highest levels of severity. RC bugs break a program completely,
+break some users' systems, or do similarly bad things. At last count
+there were 109 bugs (below) affecting Lenny. (**Update**: After the
+hackathon it's 105, with more fixes in the pipeline. Excellent.)
+Every one of those bugs has to be dealt with one way or another before
+Lenny will release.
+
+**Q**: How is this list of bugs different from
+[this one](http://bugs.debian.org/release-critical/other/testing.html)?
+**A**: The list on `bugs.debian.org` includes bugs which have been
+fixed, but haven't passed a requisite waiting period before being
+introduced into Lenny. Our list is only bugs for which there is no
+fix.
+
+**Q**: I use **Ubuntu**. Why do I care about Debian releases?
+**A**: Because Lenny is in the final, "freeze", stage of the cycle,
+many Debian contributors are holding off new versions of the software
+they maintain in order to focus on stabilizing and bugfixing Lenny.
+Since Ubuntu depends on Debian for >90% of its packaging work, that
+means less new software for Ubuntu until Lenny releases.
+
+**Q**: I have **no experience hacking on Debian**.
+**A**: No problem, we have three Debian Developers pledged to
+attend, plus Debian-packaging experts from SIPB's Debathena and XVM
+projects. They'll all be focussed on helping newer people find a good
+bug, make progress and stay unstuck on solving it, and get the fixes
+applied in Debian. Just come ready to help with the skills you have;
+you'll be sure to learn something.
+
+**Q**: I don't have a lot of programming experience.
+**A**: No problem, **not every bug requires programming** to fix.
+Some bugs concern documentation or copyright issues, and anyone
+willing to track stuff down and write in English precisely can help.
+You'll still get experience with the issues software in the real world
+has to deal with, and probably read some code along the way.
+
+## Useful Resources
+
+[Debian Policy Manual](http://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/): There
+will be people at the hackathon to help you with the packaging and
+policy aspects of updating Debian packages, but the Debian Policy
+Manual is a good reference.
+
+[Debian New Maintainers'
+Guide](http://www.us.debian.org/doc/maint-guide/): Where the Policy Manual is a fairly declarative document, this
+is more of a tutorial on how to build packages that comply with Debian
+policy
+
+[tabbott's Packaging Tutorial](http://debathena.mit.edu/packaging/): A
+summary of building Debian packages with CDBS, Tim's tutorial also
+includes a long list of useful commands for any sort of package
+development, as well as a list of useful sites
+
+[SIPB IAP class on Debian](http://stuff.mit.edu/iap/2009/#debian): A
+workshop where you can learn more about Debian packaging (the easy
+way! some of the packages you may have dealt with go through
+unnecessary complexity), with lots of hands-on examples.
+
+## Useful Packages
+
+The following Debian packages are useful for doing Debian development:
+`build-essential cdbs debhelper wdiff devscripts dh-make dpatch
+dpkg-awk dpkg-dev equivs fakeroot lintian quilt`
+
+If you're an emacs user, you may also want: `debian-el devscripts-el
+dpkg-dev-el`
+
+## The Bugs
+
+See [[lenny-bugs-all]] for a complete list. Attack one of the bugs that
+look good, or read through the unclassified ones to find the good
+ones.
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