Re: 10 Questions for All Candidates

[George <jirka 5z com>]

On Mon, Nov 12, 2001 at 10:26:11PM -0600, Dan Mueth wrote:
> 10 Questions for all candidates:
> 
> 1) Why are you running for Board of Directors?

To get babes.  Well ... there are other reasons too.  Mostly I want to help
out with some of the administrative details of GNOME.  Basically it will
allow me to be lazy with coding and have an excuse for it.

> 2) Do you have leadership and committee experience? If so, please explain.

I am The Dictator of The World.  Does that count as leadership experience?

> 3) How familiar are you with the day-to-day happenings of GNOME?  How much
> do you follow and participate in the main GNOME mailing lists?

On and off.  I really hate email.  I think email is the work of the devil
to enslave us and keep us from hacking on GNOME all day long.

That said every once in a while I get a fit of reading email.  I usually keep
up to date by talking to people on irc.

> 4) One of the primary tasks of the Board of Directors is to act as a
> liason between the GNOME Foundation and other organizations and companies
> to find out how the two groups can work together to their mutual benefit.
> Do you feel you would be good at understanding other people and companies
> and finding ways that GNOME can collaborate with other companies and
> organizations to benefit both groups and their users?

I'm not sure how to judge this.  I mean I'd be biased.  Then again, I am the
smartest, most talented and most charming person in the universe, so I
suppose I'd be good.  (When you can't work in fake humility, fake arrogance
is just as good).

> 5) One of the responsibilities and powers of the Board of Directors is to
> identify organizational weaknesses and needs of GNOME and to create
> committees, appoint coordinators of these committess, and act as liasons
> with them.  What do you believe are the current weak points of GNOME as an
> organization, and if you were able to, how would you change the GNOME
> organization?

Weak point: too much organization

I think GNOME works best when people are left to do what they feel is the
best thing, rather then forming comittees and other such nonsense.  Rather
then forming more structure, we should motivate people to participate and
have more unofficial coordinators or whatnot.

> 6) The board meets for one hour every two weeks to discuss a handful of
> issues.  Thus, it is very important that the board can very quickly and
> concisely discuss each topic and come to concensus on each item for
> discussion. Are you good at working with others, who sometimes have very
> differing opinions than you do, to reach concensus and agree on actions?

I think that as long as an unnamed person, usually referred to by 3 letters
starting with R doesn't get voted in, I think this would be quite possible.

> 7) Often Directors have to draft policies, form committees, find
> weaknesses or approaching problems of GNOME and work on solutions, and act
> as liason with various groups (both within and outside GNOME) and
> companies.  Please name three or more areas which you feel are important
> for the Board to address over the next year and which you would enjoy
> contributing some of your time to help get things started and possibly act
> as a liason between the Board and any other committees, groups, or
> companies if relevant.

1) Not to form more 'official comittees'
2) Get together more PR for GNOME
3) Try to get more involvement in general GNOME programming fromthe companies
   involved with GNOME.

> 8) Do you consider yourself diplomatic?  Would you make a good
> representative for the GNOME Foundation to the Membership, media, public,
> and organizations and corporations the GNOME Foundation works with?

(I'll try fake humility)

I dunno

> 9) Will you represent the interests of GNOME and the GNOME Foundation over
> all other personal or corporate interests you may represent?

Depends on the interests.  I take interests of Free Software (not to be
confused with FSF nor Open Source) over GNOME.  However I'm easily bribable
with beer, sex and money.  That's in order of preference.

> 10) Will you be willing and have the available time to take on and
> complete various tasks that the Board needs accomplished?

I would think so.  That is, unless I get a life.  We all know how low are the
chances of that happening.

George
- The candidate for the Silly Party

-- 
George <jirka 5z com>
   History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely
   once they have exhausted all other alternatives.
                       -- Abba Eban, 1970