Re: My my my :) Tom, Bowie, Chris, Dan, etc.

[Bowie Poag <bjp primenet com>]

> 
> 	MMMMMMMmmmmmm, we seem to be having a little familly dispute here.
> Lets just remember we are family, we all want Gnome to succeed (if you
> dont, get lost then ;0)... 
> 
> 	I've been reading the gui-list for a few weeks now with some
> curiosity, standing from the other side of the fence trying to make
> sense of what is going on here.
> 
> 	Please, all of you that i addressed any other others, explain to me
> the current situation as to how you see it. It should be interesting
> to see everybody's take on the current events differs from each
> others.. maybe take a nice deep breath before writing it too ;-)
> 

Hiya Robert.

The following is a very, very, very, very, very, very oversimplified
version of events as I saw them, which TOTALLY lack any substantial amount
of detail.. So, take it as a grain of sand on a beach of opinions.

Well, the situation has taken a BIG turn for the better (finally) in the
past 12 hours, for everybody. Federico finally stepped in and put his foot
down, as I know many of us had been asking him to do -- Regarding the
issue of what to do about a fragmented approach to building >a< style
guide. The problem was, we were spenting more time playing traffic cops
than we were in actually pushing forward with production.

Happily, i've been alleviated of the responsibility of being the overall
project manager for the Style Guide effort -- Having to do that, in
ADDITION to coming up with a Style Guide is *really* a little much to
handle, for anybody.. Even me (giggle) :)

My job, for a few weeks now, is to get everyone on the march, and headed
in the same direction, banging on the same anvil. In order to do this,
there needed to be some sort of formalized control over the revision
process. I proposed that the Style Guide be maintained (not written by --
Just maintained) by a small handful of individuals based solely upon the
input from GMOME higher-ups, the mailing list, and the general public.
Frequent IRC conferences would be held, and frequent revisions would be
released to the public based upon voting carried out here on the mailing
list. 

A few folks on the mailing list voiced strong objections to this process,
as such a thing admittedly makes me look like a dictator--Here I am,
charged with the responsibility of delivering a solid document, in
addition to getting everyone to fall in line behind the effort. As a
result, a few people splintered off and began penning their own document,
and utilizing the mailing list for input, which diverted/clouded the focus
away from what was -then- the official project, the UISG. The "official"
project is now the target document which Federico has proposed, based on a
loose hybrid version of the Mac Human Interface Guidelines plus some meat
from Tom's RSG document. Good 'nuff for me.

Since several people werent even AWARE of the fact that I had been
appointed to the task (No announcement was made on www.gnome.org, for
example.. But Slashdot carried it, as I recall) , people began to
understandably question my authority to tell them how it must be/how its
going to be. The flames erupted (and I contributed my fair share, of
course..heh) spiraling the list into chaos. All the while, I and the other
maintainers have been trying to pen a document for release to the public,
while trying to play traffic cop to 300 people.

This brings us to today. Federico steps in, waives me off from the post of
Official Project Maintainer, which is a LOAD off my back, and effectively
ends the fued between UISG and RSG. Things had deteriorated to the point
where rather than competitive, shared development between two projects, it
was turning into a cream-pie throwing contest with infinite pies
available.

Perhaps its a poor analogy, but it really resembles the Civil War in my
eyes. I'm General Grant, Tom is General Lee, and Federico is Lincoln right
now. We've even had a few extraordinarrily bloody battles. Luckilly, we've
managed to avoid repeating the past here. :) There will be no "burning of
Atlanta", no signature at Appamattox, no Gettysburg, no winner, no loser.
Federico has managed to fast-forward us from 1864 directly to 1877 --

The Gnome UI effort is now into the Reconstruction Era, minus the bad
sentiments which would have been caused by a victory of either side.

'Least thats how I see it. I have no problem at all cooperating with Tom,
now. I've wanted the playing feild to be even since the start, and one way
or another, we got it -- This is what makes me happy today. :)

Bowie