[back] [Copyright Notice] [Contents] [next]

Debian Developer's Reference - Chapter 4
Mailing Lists and Servers


4.1 Mailing lists

The mailing list server is at lists.debian.org. Mail debian-foo-REQUEST@lists.debian.org, where debian-foo is the name of the list, with the word subscribe in the Subject to subscribe to the list or unsubscribe to unsubscribe. More detailed instructions on how to subscribe and unsubscribe to the mailing lists can be found at http://www.debian.org/MailingLists/subscribe, ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian/doc/mailing-lists.txt or locally in /usr/doc/debian/mailing-lists.txt if you have the doc-debian package installed.

When replying to messages on the mailing list, please do not send a carbon copy (CC) to the original poster unless they explicitly request to be copied. Anyone who posts to a mailing list should read it to see the responses.

In addition, all messages should usually only be sent to one of the following mailing lists: debian-devel@lists.debian.org, debian-policy@lists.debian.org, debian-user@lists.debian.org, debian-announce@lists.debian.org, or debian-devel-announce@lists.debian.org. Additional mailing lists are available for special purposes; see http://www.debian.org/MailingLists/subscribe. Cross-posting (sending the same message to multiple lists) is discouraged.

debian-private@lists.debian.org is a special mailing lists for private discussions amongst Debian developers. It is meant to be used for posts which for whatever reason should not be published publically. As such, it is a low volume list, and users are urged not to use debian-private@lists.debian.org unless it is really necessary. Moreover, do not forward email from that list to anyone.

As ever on the net, please trim down the quoting of articles you're replying to. In general, please adhere to the usual conventions for posting messages.

Online archives of mailing lists are available at http://www.debian.org/Lists-Archives/.


4.2 The master server

The master server, master.debian.org, holds the canonical copy of the Debian archive (excluding the non-U.S. packages). Generally, package uploads go to this server; see Package uploads, chapter 6.

master.debian.org is the canonical location for the Bug Tracking System (BTS). If you plan on doing some statistical analysis or processing of Debian bugs, this would be the place to do it. Please describe your plans on debian-devel@lists.debian.org before implementing anything, however, to reduce unnecessary duplication of effort or wasted processing time.

All Debian developers have accounts on master.debian.org. Please take care to protect your password to this machine. Try to avoid login or upload methods which send passwords over the Internet in the clear.

If you find a problem with master.debian.org such as disk full, suspicious activity, or whatever, send an email to debian-admin@debian.org.


4.3 The FTP servers


4.4 The WWW servers

The main web server, www.debian.org, is also known as va.debian.org. All developers are given accounts on this machine.

If you have some Debian-specific information which you want to serve up on the web, you can do do this by putting material in the public_html directory under your home directory. You can do this on either va.debian.org or master.debian.org. Any material you put in those areas are accessible via the URLs http://www.debian.org/~user-id/ and http://master.debian.org/~user-id/, respectively. Generally, you'll want to use va, for the www.debian.org address, although in some cases you may need to put it on master. Please do not put any material on Debian servers not relating to Debian, unless you have prior permission. Send mail to debian-devel@lists.debian.org if you have any questions.

If you find a problem with the Debian web server, you should generally submit a bug against the pseudo-package, www.debian.org. First check whether or not someone else has already reported the problem on the Bug Tracking System.


4.5 The CVS server

cvs.debian.org is also known as va.debian.org, discussed above. If you need the use of a publically accessible CVS server, for instance, to help coordinate work on a package between many different developers, you can request a CVS area on the server. Generally, cvs.debian.org offers a combination of local CVS access, anonymous client-server read-only access, and full client-server access through ssh.

To request a CVS area, send a request via email to debian-admin@debian.org.


4.6 Mirrors of Debian servers

The web and FTP servers have several mirrors available. Please do not put heavy load on the canonical FTP or web servers. Ideally, the canonical servers only mirror out to a first tier of mirrors, and all user access is to the mirrors. This allows Debian to better spread its bandwidth requirements over several servers and networks. Note that newer push mirroring techniques ensure that mirrors are as up-to-date as they can be.

The main web page listing the available public FTP (and, usually, HTTP) servers can be found at http://www.debian.org/distrib/ftplist. More information concerning Debian mirrors can be found at http://www.debian.org/mirror. This useful page includes information and tools which can be helpful if you are interested in setting up your own mirror, either for internal or public access.

Note that mirrors are generally run by third-parties who are interested in helping Debian. As such, developers generally do not have accounts on these machines.

Please do not mirror off of master.debian.org. This host already has too much load. Check the sites above for information, or email debian-devel@lists.debian.org.


[back] [Copyright Notice] [Contents] [next]
Debian Developer's Reference
ver. 2.6.0, 11 February, 1999
Adam Di Carlo, current maintainer aph@debian.org
Christian Schwarz schwarz@debian.org
Ian Jackson ijackson@gnu.ai.mit.edu