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Hi, |
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|
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here's my semi-manifesto and my answers (note: I started to write |
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something before I got the questions... I didn't rewrite to |
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integrate questions): |
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|
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My vision of the Gentoo council: |
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The Gentoo Council should not be a committee that makes decisions for the |
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community based on the Council members' own opinion. Of course I have my |
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own opinion but I don’t feel special that my opinion should count more |
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than the opinion of anyone else just because I got elected. So from my |
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point of the view the council should act more like an administrative |
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council and keep track of the opinion/arguments within the community and |
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vote for the opinion of the majority after all arguments are shared and |
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no new points of views are getting added. |
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|
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If you are looking for someone who should do the research for you, make |
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decisions for you and knows everything better than you and can be blamed |
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for decisions you don’t like then please don’t vote for me. |
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|
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However, if you have your own opinion you want to share, want to |
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contribute on topics you are an expert in and just looking for someone |
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who will represent the opinion of the majority after the community has |
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finished discussion, I would be very happy to get your vote! |
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|
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|
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|
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> What do council-nominees think about the current lack of manpower in |
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> Gentoo as a whole, and how do you propose to confront this situation, |
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> with facts? |
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|
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Lack of manpower is always a problem. But I don't think it is the |
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council's job to change this. Job is maybe the wrong word but if you |
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would hope for a new council which will create a PR campaign for Gentoo |
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then please don't vote for me. Like I don't think that any government in |
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this world can create jobs on their own, I don’t believe that a single |
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committee in Gentoo alone can lead to interested persons becoming |
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developers. |
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For me, it is the project itself which must be interesting enough. But a |
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closed or toxic community would scare away anyone interested in the |
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project. However, it is not the council's job to make sure these |
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requirements are met. It is the responsibility of every single member of |
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the Gentoo community to keep this project interesting and make sure that |
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people want to join and stay in the community. So it is the community |
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which must define and live the rules. And the council will only act only |
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by majority decision of the community. |
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|
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|
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> In the same line that previous question, what global decisions do you |
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> consider necessary in order to solve the manpower issue? |
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|
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From my personal point of view, I would immediately start a discussion in |
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the community to reconsider to reopen Gentoo for everyone. For me it is |
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unacceptable to restrict access just because less than 10 individuals are |
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misbehaving/trolling. If the majority is unable to ignore those trolling |
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people or are concerned about Gentoo’s public image if we wouldn't |
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respond to any false claims we should find different ways and use |
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existing projects like ComRel to handle them. But it is unacceptable |
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allowing fewer than 10 trolls with bad behaviors to make us to close |
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Gentoo for the public. |
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BUT: Like said I wouldn’t act on this as council member. I would just |
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start a new discussion in the community like anyone else can do all the |
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time and once all arguments are shared the council would check if the |
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majority of Gentoo developers has changed their mind or not. And only if |
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the majority of Gentoo developers would want to open up the community |
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again I would vote with YES. |
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|
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|
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> Finally, and this is just a personal opinion, right now I see many devs |
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> trying to pull Gentoo to different sides, but what I can't see is a set |
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> of common beliefs that join us all in the same vision of what Gentoo |
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> should be or do in the near future... how could you address this issue? |
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|
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We have to differentiate: If we talk about projects, than there's not |
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much we can or should do. Every developer is free to create their own |
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project within Gentoo. As long as their project doesn’t conflict with |
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another project, there won’t be any problems. If their project affects |
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other projects they have to arrange with the other project. But it is |
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unacceptable if a project or committee with power like QA project our |
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council would abuse their given power to force Gentoo in a direction |
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against the will of the majority of the community. In this case, if a |
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person/project is pulling Gentoo into a direction against the will of |
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the majority of the community, council would have to ask this |
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person/project to stop or solve the issues with the community. If the |
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person/project don’t want or can’t solve the problem with the community |
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but keep pulling Gentoo in a direction against the will of the majority |
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of the Gentoo community, it would be ComRel’s job to force them to stop |
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as last resort to protect the community (after a council decision based |
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on a previous community discussion). |
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|
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> And I'd like to ask the inevitable question: what do you think should |
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> be the roles of Gentoo Council and Trustees appropriately? |
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I share same opinion like Kristian and Aaron on this topic. I'd like to |
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add that I especially like the idea to dissolve current foundation in |
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favor of something such as SPI. But it is too early for me to make a |
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clear decision on that yet given that we don’t know all |
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details/consequences yet. |
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But again: Even if I would personally want something such as SPI, if the |
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majority of the community would want to keep current model or something |
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different but not SPI, I would follow the community because that's my |
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understanding of my role in council (to represent community but don't |
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make my opinion the opinion of the community by voting like I want) if |
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I should get elected. |
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|
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> 1. Do you believe that Council members should respect the requests of |
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> the developer community even if they disagree with them? Or should |
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> Council members decide based on their own judgment of arguments |
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> presented? |
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Please see "my vision" from my introduction. In short: |
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In the perfect world we all agree after arguments were presented. |
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If we don't agree, Council member should follow the majority. |
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|
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> Example: there's a heated debate, and the majority of respondents |
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> request that X is implemented. However, after reading all the arguments |
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> you don't think that X is a good idea but you haven't managed to |
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> convince others. Would you vote for X (as your electorate demands) |
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> or against it (as you believe is better for the distro)? |
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|
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I would follow majority. If this will be against my fundamentals and |
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cannot support the opinion of the majority, I'll have to resign. Please |
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see my "Final note" for additional details which I had written before the |
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last 3 questions arrived. |
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|
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|
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> 2. Do you believe that the Council should proactively research the state |
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> of affairs and make decisions whenever they believe the direction |
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> of the distribution needs to be adjusted? Or should it be passive |
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> and avoid involvement unless developers explicitly request Council's |
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> intervention? |
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Council should be passive and avoid involvement unless developers |
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explicitly request Council's intervention. |
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> 3. Do you believe the developer community should hold the power |
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> to veto or dissolve the Council at any point? Provided there's a global |
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> developer vote agreeing on that. |
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No, when all council members will share my vision. :) |
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Yes, if the community is looking for a committee which will decide for |
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them, a Council which knows everything better or a Council which will act |
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proactively. |
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|
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Final note: When I say "vote for me if you want someone who represents |
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the majority of the community" because "I would vote for the opinion of |
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the majority of the community" I have to admit that there's a limit or |
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red line I will not cross: In this case I would abstain or even consider |
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to resign from council. To give you an example: For me, the worst |
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decision in the past 12 months was the decision to close Gentoo for |
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public contribution via mailing lists. This was such a bad signal to the |
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world I am really ashamed of. I especially accepted nomination because I |
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think that the majority of the community didn't feel represented by |
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council's decision on that matter. If I would have to vote on this as |
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council member and the majority of the community would want something I |
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really can't support because it is against my fundamentals, I would |
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resign because I would not be able to represent the community anymore. |
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|
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-- |
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Regards, |
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Thomas Deutschmann / Gentoo Linux Developer |
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C4DD 695F A713 8F24 2AA1 5638 5849 7EE5 1D5D 74A5 |