Re: Questions for candidates

[Leslie Proctor <proctors pacbell net>]

1 How do you manage your time and that of others? 
I work best to deadlines and when the heat is really
strong, that's when I 'm at my best.  I tend to lose
focus when not much is going on.  Managing others'
time?  They're in charge of managing their own time.

2 How are you going to treat your current Gnome
> work once you become 
>    a foundation board member? Will it suffer?
>    (towk)
As I said in my candidacy statement, I think my work
in marketing GNOME will get better as a member of the
board.  I'll be in on things earlier and can bring my
marketing eyes to things on an ongoing basis.  I won't
be constantly feeling like I'm playing catch-up.
> 
3 Which parts of the Gnome project do you think
> work well and would 
>    like to encourage further?

I think GNOME has matured into an awesome product, run
in a very professional manner (ex: the schedule that
the developers have put themselves on, etc.).  I would
like to encourage more support from companies,
industries and government - both in deployments and
financially to the Foundation.
> 
>  4 The GNOME team has been working on several
> features to promote use of 
>    GNOME in small and medium business environments,
> which will potentially 
>    deliver GNOME many users. What are you going to
> do to promote the use of 
>    GNOME within these environments?

Do exactly that - promote it.  Send out press releases
and pitches.  Cultivate some customer reviews - to use
as sources of quotes.  Cultivate analyst and industry
champions.

>  5 What do you see as current threats to the future
> of a complete Free 
>    Software desktop? And what would you like the
> GNOME Foundation to be 
>    doing to address these issues?
>    (coriodan)

We are here to stay - no threats, per se.  Our
greatest assets are our members.  Hinderances:  we
need to marshall our troops in new ways - to market
GNOME better.  I always have opportunities for bylined
articles and even books, as well as other
opportunities and I often have a hard time getting
someone to step up. We need to cultivate this kind of
contribution - and give it the credit it deserves.

 
>  6 What ideas, if any, do you have regarding GNOME
> and the rest of the 
>    world (as in not USA and other "central"
> countries) ?
Continue to evangelize GNOME worldwide.  We did a
great job at the last few GUADECs to bring GNOME to
the attention of governments worldwide.  It's starting
to pay off.  The meetings Tim had while in Chile will
also pay off.  This kind of effort is viral - it will
only grow and catch on.


>  7 What is your commitment to transparency and open
> books? Given this 
>    commitment what steps will you take over the next
> year to realize 
>    your vision?
>    (acuster)
We are a transparent organization - keep it at the
level it's at.  We need to differentiate between
transparency and a complete lack of discretion.  After
all - how many of you close the bathroom door while
you're on the john? (Don't answer that - I really,
really, really don't want to know...;-)

>  8 What would you do to increase community
> participation in the GNOME 
>    community and GNOME elections?
>    (g2devi)
As new groups, markets, governments and businesses
deploy GNOME, the community will continue to grow.  If
we encourage deployment, we will grow the community. 
I'd pay particularly close attention to secondary
schools and universities.


>  9 Do you have any thoughts on how to expand the
> developer base?
>    (voz)
I like Debian's development model of "circles of
trust".  It allows members to bring in new talent more
easily.  I also think we need to keep comprehensive
wish lists to give new members a chance to step up and
contribute.

> 
> 10 [Long introduction I hesitate to summarise, but I
> believe the gist
>    of the question to be] how do you propose to fix
> the lack of apparent 
>    structure or direction which causes a loss of
> momentum?
>    (anonymous)

This is the plague of every volunteer organization on
the planet.  Ask anyone whose job title includes the
words "volunteer coordinator".  I think in many ways,
we do better than most.  For example, most non-profits
try to schedule double the amount of people they need
to run an event/project/whatever - because that's the
level of drop-outs and/or under performing.  That is -
IF they can get that many people to step up.  People
who do fill volunteer coordinator jobs usually put in
60-80 hour work weeks - most of that phone time.  Most
of the time, our members deliver what they say they
will.

Most non-profit organizations have a paid
administrator or two, a paid volunteer coordinator,
paid fund raisers and some paid support staff.  We
have one paid position and he's trying to cover all of
these jobs.

That said - I'd like to point out several things:

1. Many, many aspects of the Foundation run smoothly -
and no one says thank you, no one acknowledges them -
instead, there is a tendency to focus on the negative.
 Very, very counterproductive. 

2. The "usual suspects" are, frankly, maxed out and
I've noticed that we often shoot down those who would
be willing to step up and fill in the gaps.  We talk a
lot about being a transparent - a good thing, as long
as it's not an excuse to be undiplomatic, cliquish (I
just made that word up) and judgemental.  

3. We need clear protocols for how we handle certain
activities - particularly those that put us in the
public eye.  And we need to get people to stick to
those protocols.  We need a comprehensive talent (what
can you do, what are you willing to do?)database that
will allow us to maximize our opportunities.  We need
to maximize the power of discussion on the
foundation-list - in other words, guard each other's
time by taking some discussions offline, reserving the
full list for announcements, etc. 

We need a special place for members on the GNOME.org
web site that has a knowlege base with press
materials, protocols and who to contact for what sort
of Foundation business.

Guess that's it - 

LP