Mostly yes. For new packages, an existing Debian developer has to do the initial upload, after reviewing your work. Once the package is in the archive and they'

Mostly yes. For new packages, an existing Debian developer has to do the initial upload, after reviewing your work. Once the package is in the archive and they're confident enough with your work, you can receive package-specific permission for subsequent uploads. There is a bit of bureaucracy the first time you want package-specific upload permission, but mainly to vouch for you in a lightweight way, to validate your identity, and to agree to Debian's various policies. https://wiki.debian.org/DebianMaintainer https://wiki.debian.org/DebianMaintainer But proposing merge requests via salsa can happen without any of that even if your contributions will end up in new packages.