| 1 |
Q: How many voters does it take to change a light bulb? |
| 2 |
A: None. Because voters can't change anything. |
| 3 |
|
| 4 |
Now if you believe that silly joke you can just stop reading. It would be a |
| 5 |
suboptimal use of your time to continue. On the other hand, if you think the |
| 6 |
Trustee Elections have any relevance, you might find some ideas and concepts |
| 7 |
here that may be of use. |
| 8 |
|
| 9 |
Would be really great if voter turnout went a bit above 50% ... if people |
| 10 |
don't vote they don't have the right to complain. The most important thing of |
| 11 |
democratic structures is to keep everyone involved, otherwise you can just |
| 12 |
put in a BDFL and be done with it. It's also a way of communicating, if you |
| 13 |
don't express your opinion (which a vote basically is) people can't be |
| 14 |
expected to know what you want. |
| 15 |
|
| 16 |
So, what's my battleplan? I'm not going to promise anything. That only leads |
| 17 |
to false assumptions and lots of trouble. But I can suggest things I really |
| 18 |
want to see done. And maybe enough people can be motivated to spend enough |
| 19 |
time on it so that things happen. We'll see. |
| 20 |
|
| 21 |
(*) Copyrights. Currently the Gentoo Foundation expects copyright assignments |
| 22 |
for many things, mostly code-related. This is problematic for two reasons: |
| 23 |
- it is not valid for most non-USians. If you live in germany, for example, |
| 24 |
you can only delegate usage rights, but the authorship and with that some |
| 25 |
rights stick to you eternally. Finding an acceptable compromise to cleanly |
| 26 |
handle that would be great |
| 27 |
- some people object to transferring their rights to their own creations to |
| 28 |
other entities. A shared copyright assignment might be easier to accept and |
| 29 |
thus allow more contributions. |
| 30 |
|
| 31 |
Lots to discuss there. But it's not that urgent. |
| 32 |
|
| 33 |
(*) Paperwork and representing Gentoo in other regions |
| 34 |
Get the paperwork done, can't be that hard. |
| 35 |
The Foundation is inherently US-centric. A European counterpart would be nice, |
| 36 |
including trademark things (the german Gentoo e.V. should be a good |
| 37 |
discussion partner!), possibly extending to other regions soon after. |
| 38 |
|
| 39 |
(*) Define and discuss the roles of the Trustees |
| 40 |
Paper-pushers? Guardians of the good mood? Visionaries? What exactly is the |
| 41 |
role of the Trustees, and how are they supposed to do it? |
| 42 |
- board of advisors: Sounds like a great idea, needs to be discussed |
| 43 |
- Be more visible and accessible |
| 44 |
|
| 45 |
(*) PR |
| 46 |
This is inherently Community-building etc. If Trustees don't work on it |
| 47 |
actively they should at least see to it that PR is always staffed. Important |
| 48 |
for perception, keep good news flowing! |
| 49 |
- Website redesign, needs to be revived and finally done. Part of PR / public |
| 50 |
perception |
| 51 |
- status reports: make it easy to see that gentoo is very alive. Improves |
| 52 |
communication. Doesn't have to be much, but people have no idea where to |
| 53 |
search! |
| 54 |
|
| 55 |
(*) What NeddySeagoon said. There's not much one can add to that, It's a great |
| 56 |
manifesto. |
| 57 |
|
| 58 |
(*) Internal politics: |
| 59 |
Opinions are good. Disagreements are expected. Constant flaming and asshattery |
| 60 |
is not useful. Affects the public perception too, so Trustees should lead the |
| 61 |
discussion on CoC and other social guidelines. |
| 62 |
|
| 63 |
It's supposed to be fun. People forget how many great things there are. Tone |
| 64 |
down the flamewars, make people feel part of a community. Increases retention |
| 65 |
of old devs, improves recruitment of new ones. More people means more things |
| 66 |
getting done. Less stress. More "Wow" feeling. |
| 67 |
Get things back to the bleeding edge feeling, make things just work. Don't let |
| 68 |
others steal your thunder, if we all pull together we're unstoppable. |
| 69 |
|
| 70 |
And now for some endorsements: |
| 71 |
|
| 72 |
fmccor: As he stated he's a lawyer, so he knows how to keep the bureaucratical |
| 73 |
side running. Excellent at conflict resolution and very helpful. You want to |
| 74 |
vote for him. |
| 75 |
|
| 76 |
NeddySeagoon: His manifesto says it all. One of the older, but wiser devs. You |
| 77 |
want to vote for him too. |
| 78 |
|
| 79 |
tgall: I don't know him personally, but he seems to be perfect for that role. |
| 80 |
Give him a chance to show what he can do. |
| 81 |
|
| 82 |
Nominated, but have not accepted yet: |
| 83 |
beandog: Just a nice person. He tries to help others where he can. Would be |
| 84 |
good to have as Trustee :) |
| 85 |
|
| 86 |
jakub: the no-bullshit counterweight. A firm believer in the "Get it done" |
| 87 |
philosophy, including the use and abuse of stabbing implements. Might not be |
| 88 |
the most popular, but one of the most effective persons. And he likes beer! |
| 89 |
|
| 90 |
I hope these two can be convinced to accept ... |
| 91 |
|
| 92 |
So that's all for now, don't forget to have fun, and be excellent to each |
| 93 |
other! |
| 94 |
|
| 95 |
Patrick Lauer |
| 96 |
Currently hiding on neutral ground in Switzerland |
| 97 |
-- |
| 98 |
gentoo-nfp@l.g.o mailing list |
Archives