Re: Release coordination - a clarification

[Dave Mason <gnome dmason net>]

On 22 Jun 2001 22:54:31 +0200, Martin Baulig wrote:
> Hi guys,
> 
> as you might already know, I'm now finally back as GNOME 2.0
> release coordinator, and Sander Vesik and me are now starting
> to assemble the final GNOME 2.0 release team.
> 
> So this stupid and nonsense-less flame-war is now finally over.
> 
> However, there are always some idiots on this planet and it looks
> to me like Red Hat's marketing department is at least confused
> about why I initially decided to step down.

Red Hat is making absolutely *no* claims to that effect. I do not know
where you heard this but if it came from any formal Red Hat/Ximian talks
a) you have no right to hear such things b) it is still completely
wrong.

Were we upset by you stepping down briefly? Yes we were. Did anyone in
this company think it was 'all Ximian's fault'? No. Were we upset by the
weekend's flamewar? As much as anyone - but not as far as you seem to
think. 

I personally will stand up for any opinion coming out of any Red Hat
employee - not because I think we are always right but because I am
proud that we allow opinions. Opinions can start arguments but they can
lead to bigger and better visions as well.

We look upon Ximian as we look upon any company in the Linux space...
friends with a common goal. I will take that one step further by saying
that we hold Ximian as even more special because before they were all in
the company they were our good friends. I can only give everyone my word
on that - I think that should be enough.

As for Havoc and Owen, I personally cannot imagine anyone thinking that
they are anything but stalwarts in the GNOME community. I hold their
intelligence, their opinions, and their company as an honor to be
associated with. There are very few people with as much passion for
GNOME as these two, it is a passion we can all learn from. I do not say
this as a Red Hat co-worker - I say this as a member of GNOME. Again, I
can only give my word to this - I think that should be enough.

Please do not listen to the press' conspiracy theories. Please do not
listen to individual's conpiracy theories. Lets all grow up, work on
GNOME and quit giving out more inaccurate fodder for people to feed on.
When you reach a certain level of success (like GNOME, Ximian, or Red
Hat) people are always looking for something bad to say about you. We
can accept these things as a sign of our success but we don't need to
perpetuate them, or buy into them.

Cheers,

Dave Mason