Introduction

Around early 1996 I started getting some emails from a guy called Bruce Perens about a program I wrote called rspfd asking me about it so he could better integrate it into a distribution called Debian. I helped him out where I could and during that time learnt about the Debian project. It sounded really interesting and was a distribution you could directly influence and help grow.

Finally in early 1997 I became a Debian developer. I cannot get the exact date but I was on the developer email list 20 January 1997. My first package was the old ax25-utils package, here is its changelog:

ax25utils (2.1.37a-1) unstable; urgency=low

  * Initial Release.

-- Craig Small <csmall@gonzo.triode.net.au> Thu, 10 Jul 1997 22:15:45 +1000

Times have changed now, to become a developer back then I just had to help out and then eventually get a login. Now things are a lot bigger and a lot more formal, which is just part of the developing of a project.

You may not of heard what Debian is. It is a group of over 200 developers who package up programs to make a distribution of Linux. Other groups that do this include Slackware and RedHat. Debian is somewhat unusual as it is quite an open organisation.

Debian Logo information

Due to some historical coincidences, people think I have something to do with the Debian logo. I don't really, but because I get so many questions about it, here are some facts about it:

• The Debian logo was designed by Raul Silva, after winning the Debian logo competition.
• Originally the logo with the bottle was for open use, the swirl only for official. In June 1999 the Debian developers voted to swap the logos to what they are now.
• The font used by the logo is Poppl-Laudatio Condensed, it is a commercial font.
• As Debian an image using the font, not the font itself, there is no copyright issue for Debian using this font. If you want to use the font, then you need to buy it.
• The red used in the font is PANTONE Rubine Red 2X CVC
• Other equivalents of the red include:
  • CMYK - 15%,96%,67%,%
  • RGB - 206,46,76
  • HEX - CC3333 (This is actually a bit off but its web safe)

Raul suggests that you do not use the font for other things that have the Debian logo as it can create confusion as to what is the logo (because the logo and the text would "merge" a little as they use the same font). Besides, you would need to buy that font to use it.

The logo I use on this page either predates the logo contest or was in the contest. I happen to like it. If you know who designed it let me know.

My Debian Packages

Debian now has a nice Package Tracking System that does a much better job at tracking packages than static html, my packages are all listed under Debian Packages for Craig Small.

Old Debian Packages

I keep a copy of all my old packages, you can find them in my Old Debian Archive. Only the packages I've built are kept there.

Temporary/Experimental Packages

There are also some packages that are temporary or experimental. Use at your own risk! Thare are in this Experimental Archive.