Gentoo Archives: gentoo-nfp

From: Ferris McCormick <fmccor@g.o>
To: Chris Gianelloni <wolf31o2@g.o>
Cc: gentoo-nfp@l.g.o
Subject: Re: [gentoo-nfp] Points to Ponder for Sundays Meeting.
Date: Fri, 18 Apr 2008 22:48:16
Message-Id: 20080418224803.75a04ae7@anaconda.krait.us
In Reply to: Re: [gentoo-nfp] Points to Ponder for Sundays Meeting. by Chris Gianelloni
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4 On Fri, 18 Apr 2008 15:25:16 -0700
5 Chris Gianelloni <wolf31o2@g.o> wrote:
6
7 > On Fri, 2008-04-18 at 20:42 +0100, Roy Bamford wrote:
8 > > I have a vested interest in the definition of a "full developer" I want
9 > > to propose something like "Gentoo developers become members of the
10 > > Gentoo Foundation on the first anniversary of their join date, as held
11 > > in the individuals LDAP record." That makes it nice and unambiguous
12 > > for election officials. It also defines developers as anyone who has an
13 > > LDAP record.
14 > >
15 > > and "Foundation membership ceases at the close of the trustee election
16 > > following the members retirement from the project."
17 > > I don't want serving trustees retired unless they resign from the
18 > > Foundation separately under its bylaws.
19 >
20 > If only (essentially) current Gentoo developers are able to be
21 > Foundation members, what's exactly the point? I'm seriously asking
22 > here. One thing that has consistently been brought up is that there is
23 > no representation for non-developers in the Foundation. The Gentoo
24 > Foundation is supposed to be about the Gentoo community, not just a
25 > selective and restricted subset of said community.
26 >
27 > I can see having some kind of "timeout" for membership, but it should
28 > *not* be based on someone's role within the Gentoo developer community.
29 > Perhaps participation in the Foundation should count. For example, I
30 > should be able to quit Gentoo today, but as long as I still continue to
31 > vote and provide input on Foundation matters, I should be allowed. Now,
32 > once I quit contributing to the Foundation, I see no reason why I
33 > shouldn't lose my status, but I should also be able to get it back
34 > without having to become a developer for a year... again.
35 >
36 > Remember, the Gentoo Foundation is what drives Gentoo (the distribution)
37 > or at least that's how it is supposed to be. Let's not think of things
38 > backwards. The current ideas seem to stem from the idea that the
39 > distribution controls the Foundation, when it should be the exact
40 > opposite. The Foundation *should* be a proponent of the community. It
41 > *should* take in what the community wants and try to steer the
42 > development pool in that direction. It should be a catalyst for
43 > positive change within Gentoo, not simply a reactionary body that does
44 > nothing more than echo the wishes of the developer community. After
45 > all, if it's nothing but the developers, why make it separate or have
46 > differing rules? Why not just make someone a Foundation member on day 1
47 > of their developer status and revoke it on the last day? Wouldn't that
48 > fit in better with any ideas that revolve around the distribution
49 > controlling Foundation membership?
50 >
51 > It's my personal opinion that the Foundation should have the ability to
52 > control its own membership. Currently, membership is decided by an
53 > external third party (the Gentoo distribution's Developer Relations
54 > team) and based on some fairly arbitrary term of service. That worked
55 > out great for the *original* Foundation, but really needs to be
56 > rethought. Remember guys, you have the ability to rebuild the
57 > Foundation how you see fit. Don't pass up this opportunity because of
58 > history or the status quo. Do what you think is best and everybody else
59 > be damned. ;]
60 >
61 > --
62 > Chris Gianelloni
63 > Release Engineering Strategic Lead
64 > Games Developer
65 > --
66 > gentoo-nfp@l.g.o mailing list
67 >
68
69
70 - --
71 Ferris McCormick (P44646, MI) <fmccor@g.o>
72 Developer, Gentoo Linux (Sparc, Devrel, Userrel, Trustees)
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