Re: [gentoo-project] Evidence of idella4's damage to Gentoo, please

[Gregory Woodbury]

While Gentoo is not currently bureaucracy-bound in terms of technical
service,
I am seeing a fair amount of bureaucratic-think in a few situations that
are more
community oriented.  I will not take sides in any particular complaints,
that is a
useless effort when there is not enough information available for me to
analyze.

So far, there are rumors and allegations, but no hard data available. Some
want
all the data out in the open, and others are more comfortable with dealing
with it
in a more controlled manner in private. The difference of opinion is the
crux
of the matter. Certainly, though, I have an opinion that a person directly
involved
should have access to the full data.  While the situation is not a "legal"
case, there
is no requirement to apply "rules of evidence" and other such formalities;
however,
some aspects of the USA's rules and rights may be generally applicable. We
surely
do not want to get involved in the quibbling and other tactics of folks who
might
want to be CoC and ComRel "lawyers"!!

I also am of the opinion that there should be appropriate principles that
guide folks
in their use of the various forums that abound for the community. The
electronic
virtual communities have the advantage off being able to create as many
topic
specific channels as they need or want, but care needs to be taken to not
allow
too many to the extent that no-one knows where to put a conversation.  The
history
of Usenet News is a perfect example of this phenomenon.

One thought that occurs to me is that some sort of compromise may be needed:
certain social problems could be discussed in informal private
conversations, but
before an action is taken as a resul some sort of public disclosue and
analysis
should be made available ro the community.  This is in keeping with the
traditions
of various bodies around the world. It offers a balance of the ability to
deliberate candidly
with the transparency of showing the why and wherefores. Ideally, the
summary
of the deliberations should be given with some delay before the actions are
implemented to allow for community opinions to be gauged.

To me, the secrecy and confidentiality that does occur shows that there is
some incipient
bureaucracy-think developing. It needs correcting fairly quickly to
preserve Gentoo's
reputation as a fair and open-minded community.

[I will point out that we should not be so open-minded that our brains fall
out!]

Compromise is the word of the day.

-- 
G.Wolfe Woodbury
redwolfe@×××××.com