Re: [gentoo-dev] Council Council: call for agenda items for June 12 meeting

[Rich Freeman]

On Sat, Jun 11, 2016 at 8:09 AM, Pacho Ramos <pacho@g.o> wrote:
>
> Yeah, I also fail to see what is wrong with suggesting the items for
> the agenda... is not that the purpose of this call? Or maybe I am
> missing some replies to the thread :|
>

I'm not entirely sure I've caught everything going on based on reactions/etc.

But, to answer your question generally (I'm not specifically referring
to the topics mgorny raised):

Anybody can ask the council to discuss anything at the meetings.  Note
that the purpose of the council isn't to micromanage everything in
Gentoo, and in general we like to try to build consensus and seek
input before we just hand down decisions.  This allows everybody to
have their say and it is foolish to disregard the expertise of those
who don't happen to be on the council.  I think having a forum to
formally air opinions but leave with decisions and not endless debate
is one of the main value-adds of the council.

So, if somebody suggests a topic that isn't entirely ripe for a
decision most likely the council is probably going to try to trigger
some list discussion to get it there if that is reasonable, and if not
it will probably just air some opinions and try to offer some advice
on what still needs to be done.  There is never harm in asking the
council to get involved, but if a council agenda item is the first
time a topic comes up, don't be surprised if you don't leave with
something resembling a final decision.

This is of course how this council has generally operated and future
councils are free to operate differently, though I'd generally say
that this sort of approach has worked really well for the last few
years IMO.  In the end it is really the individuals behind initiatives
who have the power to make them happen.  The council functions best
when it is opening up the way for individuals to scratch their itch
and not just handing down "unfunded mandates."

-- 
Rich