-your identity and intentions. As the number of people working on
-Debian GNU/Linux has grown to over &number-of-maintainers; people and
-our systems are used in several very important places we have to be
-careful about being compromised. Therefore, we need to verify new
-maintainers before we can give them accounts on our servers and
-letting them upload packages.
- <p>
-Registration requires that the following information be sent to
-&email-new-maintainer; as part of the registration application:
-<list>
- <item>
-Your name.
- <item>
-Your preferred login name on <tt>master</tt> (eight characters or
-less), as well as the email address at which you'd prefer to be
-subscribed to &email-debian-private; (typically this will be either
-your primary mail address or your new <tt>debian.org</tt> address).
- <item>
-A phone number where we can call you. Remember that the new
-maintainer team usually calls during evening hours to save on long
-distance tolls. Please do not give a work number, unless you are
-generally there in the evening.
- <item>
-A statement of intention, that is, what package(s) you intend to work
-on, which Debian port you will be assisting, or how you intend to
-contribute to Debian.
- <item>
-A statement that you have read and agree to uphold the <url
-id="&url-social-contract;" name="Debian Social Contract">.
- <item>
-Some mechanism by which we can verify your real-life identity. For
-example, any of the following mechanisms would suffice:
-<list>
- <item>
-An OpenPGP key signed by any well-known signature, such as:
-<list>
- <item>
-Any current Debian developer you have met <em>in real life</em>.
- <item>
-Any formal certification service (such as Verisign, etc.) that
-verifies your identity. A certification that verifies your email
-address, and not you identity, is not sufficient.
- </list>
- <item>
-Alternatively, you may identify yourself with a scanned (or physically
-mailed) copy of any formal documents certifying your identity (such as
-a birth certificate, national ID card, U.S. Driver's License, etc.).
-If emailed, please sign the mail with your OpenPGP key.
- </list>
- </list>
+your identity and intentions, and checking your technical skills. As
+the number of people working on &debian-formal; has grown to over
+&number-of-maintainers; people and our systems are used in several
+very important places we have to be careful about being compromised.
+Therefore, we need to verify new maintainers before we can give them
+accounts on our servers and let them upload packages.
+ <p>
+Before you actually register you should have shown that you can do
+competent work and will be a good contributor. You can show this by
+submitting patches through the Bug Tracking System or having a package
+sponsored by an existing maintainer for a while. Also, we expect that
+contributors are interested in the whole project and not just in
+maintaining their own packages. If you can help other maintainers by
+providing further information on a bug or even a patch, then do so!
+ <p>
+Registration requires that you are familiar with Debian's philosophy
+and technical documentation. Furthermore, you need a GPG key which
+has been signed by an existing Debian maintainer. If your GPG key
+is not signed yet, you should try to meet a Debian maintainer in
+person to get your key signed. There's a <url id="&url-gpg-coord;"
+name="GPG Key Signing Coordination page"> which should help you find
+a maintainer close to you (If you cannot find a Debian maintainer
+close to you, there's an alternative way to pass the ID check. You
+can send in a photo ID signed with your GPG key. Having your GPG
+key signed is the preferred way, however. See the
+<url id="&url-newmaint-id;" name="identification page"> for more
+information about these two options.)
+