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On Sat, Jun 15, 2013 at 4:00 PM, William Hubbs <williamh@g.o> wrote: |
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> This is a tough one. If the council does start to become more proactive, |
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> there would need to be a way to guard against the council stepping into |
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> a project and dictating how that project will do things without fully |
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> understanding the implications of their decision. |
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> |
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Honestly, I think the solution to this is to make sure that the |
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council is staffed with individuals who can be trusted not to do this. |
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However, there really is no difference between a council that needs to |
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have matters brought before it, and one which can act proactively. If |
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ANYBODY can bring a matter to the council, then it will one way or |
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another end up looking into anything it wants to. |
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I think that issues are best solved by individuals first and foremost. |
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However, it doesn't make sense to have battles going on for months |
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where there simply isn't agreement. There are many situations where |
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almost any decision is better than no decision (an example comes to |
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mind but I won't bring it up as a distraction). |
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However, as I've mentioned elsewhere, I do think the council should be |
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a little more active. If council members have an opinion they can |
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state it on the lists, and allow themselves to be engaged a little on |
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it. Likewise, the council doesn't HAVE to wait until a meeting to |
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make a decision, though if a matter can afford to wait doing so might |
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be wise. Getting involved in discussion early isn't about fanning |
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flames/etc, but it is about letting everybody know where they stand, |
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and also letting arguments mature to a reasonable level before making |
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a decision (rather than putting them on hold for a few weeks, and then |
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restarting them when there is a request for more info). Also, council |
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members can use their position to try to influence direction absent a |
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formal decision, and that need not be on-list. |
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One other thing - I don't intend to suggest that I'm not sympathetic |
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to the concerns of individuals as well. I really hate that the online |
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thing often tends to depersonalize everything. I just don't think we |
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can operate in a state of perpetual paralysis either - we'll never |
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reach 100% consensus on any decision. There isn't a single Gentoo |
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developer I don't have respect for - all have given of their time and |
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energy and we're all better for it. |
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Rich |
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