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On Sat, Jun 15, 2013 at 10:17 PM, Ryan Hill <dirtyepic@g.o> wrote: |
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> I think nominations are open now, so I will nominate Rich Freeman, Petteri |
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> Räty, Ulrich Mueller, Samuli Suominen, Robin H. Johnson, Mike Frysinger, and |
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> Michał Górny in no particular order. |
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|
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Honestly, I've been torn on this because I think the Trustees are a |
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vital role that at times in the past has been neglected, and if I'm |
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unable to take office as a Trustee we actually have fewer nominees |
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than positions at the moment. |
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|
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However, I'm going to accept this nomination. I don't think I can |
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offer so much criticism without at least offering the community the |
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chance to let me step up and try to do something about our problems. |
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|
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The last year has been one of dealing with change for virtually every |
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distro. We have everything from Systemd to Unity to MIR to Wayland to |
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Eudev on the horizon or even at our door, with platforms like Android |
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calling into question the very notion of a traditional Linux distro. |
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I think moreso than any other distro Gentoo is actually able to |
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embrace the opportunities while still offering something for those who |
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are happy with what they have. |
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|
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For anybody reading lists the last few weeks it will be no shock that |
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I do advocate a change in the status quo when it comes to dealing with |
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CoC and such. I definitely favor a much more activist Council. That |
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said, I also grok the zen of minimal interference, and I don't think |
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that every problem is best solved with an official vote. If elected I |
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won't be afraid to cast a vote to step in when I think enough is |
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enough, but I intend to try to work via other channels whenever I can. |
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A Council vote in my opinion should be a foregone conclusion on most |
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matters - my votes shouldn't surprise anybody on either side. If I |
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have an opinion on an issue I'll put it out there so that people can |
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point out my mistakes BEFORE I actually make them. If the Council can |
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help influence a decision or broker a compromise on the lists before |
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it gets to a schedule meeting, that is a win/win. |
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|
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I think there should be a place in Gentoo for just about anyone. You |
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can contribute without commitment, and if you're a developer you can |
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contribute at whatever level of commitment you feel is appropriate. |
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However, I do believe that holding an office of any kind involves |
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responsibility to the community and not just authority. That applies |
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to the office of Maintainer as much as the office of Council. You |
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don't need to be a Maintainer to work on a package (just be |
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responsible for your commits), but if you are a Maintainer then you |
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have some responsibility to work with those who want to contribute |
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(whether developers or not). If somebody has a really strong |
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technical base but really doesn't want to deal with some of the other |
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Maintainer responsibilities we should try to pair them up with others |
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willing to take on those responsibilities (they don't even have to be |
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devs). I don't want to boot people out for being busy or just |
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disinterested in conversation - I think we need to find ways to |
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support each other. |
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|
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I'm a libertarian, but also a bit of a socialist. I believe in |
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maximizing individual contribution not as an end in itself, but |
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because this what is usually best for the community. When the two |
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conflict, we have to be here to serve. I get far more out of Gentoo |
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every day than I give back, so I'm happy to contribute what I can. |
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I'd hope that most here feel the same. |
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|
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While I will always be persuadable to change my mind, I'll go ahead |
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and outline my thoughts on a few contemporary issues, because I think |
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you deserve to know them. These aren't promises - just my voice in |
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the conversation: |
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|
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- With respect to moving from the Council to a single leader: I think |
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it might work, but I think it should be a prime minister, not supreme |
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dictator. |
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|
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- With respect to Devrel/Userrel/QA: I would like to see some kind of |
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accountability to Council beyond just the appeals provision. Perhaps |
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they're appointed, or confirmed, or at least able to be recalled. |
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Maybe some routine reporting of how things are going is appropriate. |
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It can be a two-way street as well - how can Council enable and make |
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these organizations more effective? |
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|
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- With respect to your-most/least-favorite-technology: In general I'm |
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in favor of minimizing the burden placed on Maintainers to take care |
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of technologies they are not interested in. However, Maintainers |
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cannot block work that others wish to do, and I will not support |
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monopolizing of packages either. Alternate implementations are fine, |
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but should not be the norm, and certainly not if the only reason is |
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because Maintainers refuse to play nicely. |
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|
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- With respect to the CoC. When we ask devs to treat others |
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respectfully we are not asking them to make a sacrifice. This is just |
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how we should operate. If you can't say it nicely, maybe wait until |
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you can, or don't say it at all. Honestly, I liked the Proctor |
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concept - I don't think that Devrel and an outright ban is the right |
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solution for every problem. I'd prefer that we try to nip problems in |
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the bud with a slap before they get out of hand. |
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|
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If anybody wants to talk to me offline or on-list about anything feel |
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free to do so. I think I'm pretty approachable, and I'll probably try |
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to be a bit more outgoing when I see issues if elected. I'm always |
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interested in coming up with better approaches - when I make it a |
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proposal it really is just a proposal. |
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So, vote for me, or not. This isn't a feather in my hat as far as I'm |
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concerned. I'll try to contribute where I can regardless both to the |
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distro and the Foundation. I'm really curious to see how this |
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election turns out. |
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|
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Rich |