Random things you can't do without being a DD (and no, DM isn't the answer).

  • Access porter box to try and reproduce build failures, test patches (I know about experimental, but building isn't sufficient in some cases, e.g. when runtime errors come into play).

  • Introduce NEW packages on your own (Christian, you know I'm pointing to crappy packages to get them removed, so my karma shouldn't be that bad, at least regarding this particular point).

  • Sponsor people you're working with, on a regular basis.

  • More generally, sponsor people who have addressed each and every problem you could find in their prospective packages, and that aren't getting any more answer on debian-mentors@.

  • Vote.

  • Cancel by yourself a DELAYED/n NMU in case the maintainer reacts and has good reasons to postpone an upload, without having to bug the original uploader (who also has stuff to do and sometimes happens not to be available in due time).

  • Access interesting data directly, like the cause of previous REJECTs for this or that package.

Being able to read debian-private@, having a niceWspammed @d.o address, or getting an lwn access could be added here, but that's only bonus stuff compared to the previous items (and I'm probably forgetting others).

Oh, yeah, I know, patience is the key. I'm not sure about how many months we're supposed to wait for an answer from James.

I'm not sure how many years we're supposed to wait for the various DAM problems to be solved.

Lucas is very worried about bringing fresh blood into Debian. Maybe there's some already, but it's not allowed to flow in.

Many thanks to all developers who are making it less frustrating by doing mass-sponsoring; and to everyone showing sympathy. Not listing you all, you know who you are.