Anthony Towns
Encyclopedia
Programmer
A programmer, computer programmer or coder is someone who writes computer software. The term computer programmer can refer to a specialist in one area of computer programming or to a generalist who writes code for many kinds of software. One who practices or professes a formal approach to...
who was a long-time Debian
Debian
Debian is a computer operating system composed of software packages released as free and open source software primarily under the GNU General Public License along with other free software licenses. Debian GNU/Linux, which includes the GNU OS tools and Linux kernel, is a popular and influential...
release manager, ftpmaster team member and later the Debian Project Leader (from 17 April 2006 until 17 April 2007). He is also the secretary of Linux Australia
Linux Australia
Linux Australia is the national, Australian Linux organisation. It was founded in 1997 and formally incorporated in New South Wales as a non-profit organisation in 1999. Linux Australia aims to represent the Australian Linux community and to support and collaborate with the Linux User Groups in...
and has been an active member of HUMBUG since the late 1990s in his home town of Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, where he has resided since 1990.
Debian
Anthony Towns joined the Debian Project in early 1998. He made significant contributions to the Debian bug tracking system as well as to the network initialization scripts (as he wrote ifupdown).He also got involved in the package archive infrastructure and the release process. In 2000, he became the Debian release manager, replacing Richard Braakman, and going on to release Debian GNU/Linux 2.2 potato in August the same year.
After James Troup implemented package pools, a new way of organizing packages in the Debian archive, later the same year, Anthony Towns implemented testing, a new method of propagating Debian packages from unstable to frozen (and then on to stable).
Towns continued as the release manager through the release of Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 woody in 2002. He remained as the release manager until 2004, when his two previous aides Steve Langasek and Colin Watson officially replaced him. During this time, the release process faltered somewhat, as the preparation of Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 sarge was only completed in 2005.
In 2004, he decided that the Debian Free Software Guidelines
Debian Free Software Guidelines
The Debian Free Software Guidelines is a set of guidelines that the Debian Project uses to determine whether a software license is a free software license, which in turn is used to determine whether a piece of software can be included in Debian...
apply to documentation, firmware and other things in Debian, interpreting General Resolution 2004-003. This prompted various other actions, cf. Debian Free Software Guidelines#Non-software content.
Leadership
He ran for the position of DPL in 2005, but was defeated by Branden RobinsonBranden Robinson
G. Branden Robinson is a Debian developer, known for his contributions to the packaging of the X Window System, and his tenure as the Debian Project Leader from April 2005 to April 2006.-Contributions:...
by a margin of 23 effective votes.
He ran again in 2006, and was elected as the new Debian Project Leader on 9 April 2006, beginning his term on 19 April 2006. Towns was elected by the second-narrowest ever margin and was the first DPL ever to face a recall vote while in office. Towns was also the first DPL ever whose support by Debian Developers was reaffirmed through a General Resolution. Since a great deal of Debian work takes place in Europe, Towns created the post of "Debian Second in Charge" (2IC) to lead discussion, support developers, and represent
the project in locations which could more easily be reached by the runner-up candidate, Steve McIntyre
Steve McIntyre
Steve McIntyre is a software engineer and a long-time Debian developer. His best known contributions have been in the field of creating Debian CD/DVD images; he is the debian-cd team leader and is responsible for generating the official images.McIntyre ran for the post of Debian Project Leader in...
, than himself.
In September 2006, the Dunc-tank project started a fund-raising programme to help Debian release its next distribution, Etch, on the scheduled date of 4 December 2006. Towns's involvement with Dunc-Tank came under severe criticism, including hitherto-unseen calls to end his Debian project leadership to make clear that the Dunc-Tank project was not officially supported by Debian project members. Some developers slowed down their unpaid work on Debian in response to the programme. Debian "Etch" was not released in December 2006 as hoped; instead its release happened in April 2007. Nonetheless, Towns views the outcome of the Dunc Tank project as positive, highlighting that Dunc-Tank opposition helped to improve quality of Debian Etch.
In 2007, after Bdale Garbee
Bdale Garbee
Bdale Garbee is a computer specialist who works with GNU/Linux, particularly Debian. He is currently the GNU/Linux CTO at Hewlett-Packard and the current President of Software in the Public Interest....
, Towns was the second DPL to not be re-elected into office while still being a candidate after his first term.