Re: Questions for the candidates - let's start the discussion(s)

[Glynn Foster <Glynn Foster Sun COM>]

> *** BEGIN QUESTIONS ***
> 
> [1] What are your plans to answer the question put forward at the last
> GUADEC about "Why should one become a member of the GNOME Foundation" ?

To feel part of a family, a wider community working towards common goals. The
GNOME Foundation is a non-profit organization, so the rewards will probably
never be anything other than that. You can of course vote in this election and
feel like your vote is helping the direction of GNOME.

> Would you be in a position to elaborate on your plans/projects to make
> membership more interesting for the GNOME Community ?

I don't have any good ideas right now. I've been on the Membership Committee for
a couple of years and was involved in the steps towards making membership more
open to everyone - I disagreed at the time, but I think it's right now. GNOME is
about the people and we've been hearing that a lot. Without a wide and diverse
community of people actively involved in the project, we are nothing. I believe
membership is part of that.

> [2] What do you think is the most important item on the Board's agenda
> right now ? What will you do more or better than the previous boards ?

I'd like to get a personal feel where we're at. Since I last got involved, the
board has done some incredible work fixing a lot of things. Everything from
financials to communication with the advisory board, to spending money wisely.
I'd hope that I can continue that, and push for the board to communicate what
it's doing as much as possible.

> [3] How do you manage your time and that of others ? Are you good at
> working with others including those who might have a differing opinion
> than yours and try to reach consensus and agree on actions ?

I'm pretty responsible. When I have an action item, I'll generally follow it
through. I've worked with a large proportion of the current candidates, so I
don't expect it to be a problem there. I know some of them well enough to count
them as good personal friends.

> [4] How are you going to manage your current contributions to GNOME once
> you become a Board Member ?

I don't write too much code, so from that point of view, there isn't many
contributions to speak of. I count myself as a community development
manager/player/whatever. Some of my main tasks within Sun is to make sure
there's a good line of communication between GNOME and Sun, and I fully intend
to keep that going.

> [5] What do you think is the most important market for GNOME over the
> coming year and what do you feel you can do to help GNOME achieve better
> presence ?

I think the board has done an excellent job at expanding the advisory board.
That's a great way to get more marketing share.

I'd like to see us support the user groups as much as we can - the event box has
been a great idea that has succeeded well.

> [6] What are your plans to encourage and mentor contributions to GNOME
> from Latin America, Africa and Asia ? How would you increase community
> participation ?

I would delegate. The guys down in those parts of the world do a much, much
better job at encouraging new people to get involved. Where possible I'd make
sure the GNOME Foundation can support their activities either from a financial
or contact point of view.

> [7] What areas do you see lacking currently in a complete Free Software
> Desktop ? What would your role be (should you be elected) in addressing
> the issues ?

That the community doesn't burn out, and remains a fun place working on an
innovative user experience.

> [8] What are your planned activities to promote use of GNOME in small
> and medium business environments which potentially deliver many users to
> GNOME ?

I work for Sun in the desktop group, and we're actively trying to encourage
developers to come to our platform. That platform is GNOME.

> [9] What sources of funds do you as a Board Member (should you be
> elected) try to establish ? What areas do you think require most fund-love ?

I think it's important to keep a steady flow of funds from the advisory board
members. I don't really have much of an idea of the current situation regarding
finances in what areas we're spending or raising money.

> [10] Please rank your interests:
> 
> 	* GNOME evangelizing to government, enterprise, small business and
> individual
> 	* GNOME marketing and merchandising of branded items (nationally and
> internationally)
> 	* GNOME legal issues like Copyright and Patents
> 	* GNOME finances and fund raising
> 	* Alliance with other organisations

Mostly evangelization, and connecting the right people to each other so that
they can get their respective jobs done.

> [11] How much familiar are you with the day-to-day happenings of GNOME ?
> How much do you follow and participate in the main GNOME mailing lists ?

I'm pretty familiar. I mostly just read Planet GNOME, and read some of the
non-technical discussion on the various lists.

> [12] Can you elaborate about your plans to provide the Board with a
> focus that steers development choices and works with allied
> organisations in order to define and adapt (and or adopt) standards ?

GNOME is firmly behind supporting free and open standards. There's nothing new
here, and I'll be happy to support any initiative the members feel is important
to them.


Glynn