Re: Candidacy (Michael Meeks), I'm totaly misunderstood <sob>

[Dan Mueth <d-mueth uchicago edu>]

On Mon, 16 Oct 2000, Michael Meeks wrote:

>         The hackers[1] currently collectively own and control the
> Gnome project ( I know this is something Bart wants to preserve too ).
> If we start adding non-hackers to the board 'we' start to loose what  
> we used to own.
> 
>         Even if the board makes no significant technical decisions,
> which I remain extremely unconvinced about, I maintain that hackers[1]
> better represent the Gnome community than any other.
> 
>         So in summary; I think the people best equipped to represent
> and lead the Gnome team are the technical[2] people who have so far 
> created what we have.

Your use of "hackers" and "technical people" is a little unclear here.  I
am hoping that you really mean "contributors".  For GNOME to succeed, it
requires contributions in many shapes and sizes from a diverse group of
contributors.  The most obvious is hackers.  However the project could not
exist without sys admins (for web pages, cvs, mailing lists, ...), it
would look horrible without artists to do graphics, users could not use it
without user documentation, ...

I don't think we want to talk about who "owns" GNOME.  It is Free, so I
don't have to care who "owns" it.

The GF is not meant to "control" GNOME.  I see the GF as another piece of
GNOME which sits on the side, doing its work and filling a void.  The GDP
sits on one side writing documentation.  The GTP sits on another side
translating.  The GF sits on yet another side doing several things which
no other part of GNOME does: working with the media, organizing conference
participation, working with corporations who want to use/contribute to
GNOME, outreach and education, addressing legal issues, generally acting
as the "voice of GNOME".

Note that the tasks I listed above do not require a low-level
understanding of GNOME libraries.  Also note that most GNOME hackers
probably would not want to do these tasks, nor would they necessarily be
any good at it or even have the time necessary to do a good job at it.  I
do not want the stereotypical hacker on the Board of Directors.  The
stereotypical hacker doesn't want to write documentation, doesn't want to
do administrative tasks, doesn't know how to work with corporations or the
media, may not know much about law, etc.

The qualities that are important are:
  * Dedicated to GNOME and part of GNOME community
  * Follows GNOME happenings on a daily basis
  * Willing and able to commit significant time resources to GF work
  * Willing to do whatever work the GF needs (*not* hacking)
  * Can represent GNOME well (to media, companies, etc.)
  * Good communication skills (can write/speak, returns emails, ...)
  * Good board member (shows up, contributes, plays well with others,...)

I take all of these very seriously.  And while some hackers would be very
good board members, most would not IMO.  (This is not to "diss" the
hackers, you can say the same thing about the GDP or GTP or GNOME as a
whole.)

Nonetheless, I think we will still have a majority of GNOME hackers on the
board.  This is okay because the large majority of serious GNOME
contributors are hackers, and we happen to have some very well-rounded
hackers.  However, I think any GNOME contributor who is not a hacker and
has the qualities above should be seriously considered.  This is
especially true if they can contribute a unique set of relevant
experiences, skills, or expertise.  (Bart, once again, is an excellent
example: he is very good at all the things on my list above, plus has a
law degree which may be very helpful on the board.)

I have seen a number of people post questions to the candidates about
their beliefs or how the foundation should handle technical issues and
projects.  I have avoided these questions because almost everybody who is
a serious GNOME contributor believes GNOME should be Free, and almost
everyone also agrees that the GF should not be meddling in the technical
issues of GNOME which should be resolved on the mailing lists.

What I'd really like to know from each candidate is how good they are at
my list of qualities:  (copied from above)
  * Dedicated to GNOME and part of GNOME community
  * Follows GNOME happenings on a daily basis
  * Willing and able to commit significant time resources to GF work
  * Willing to do whatever work the GF needs (*not* hacking)
  * Can represent GNOME well (to media, companies, etc.)
  * Good communication skills (can write/speak, returns emails, ...)
  * Good board member (shows up, contributes, plays well with others,...)

Dan