[OFF-TOPIC] Re: ideological speed bumps

[Pia]

One thing I have been wondering about for a long time is how to actually 
contribute as an Ubuntu Accessibility maintainer.  Though I have asked and 
tried to get some input on it, no one has offered assistance from the 
official team.  My real problem is that the directions and documentation 
for steps on how to help out seem difficult and convoluted to try and 
understand.  It appears very time consuming to try and get onto a team 
such as becoming a MOTU or joining the accessibility team and so with no 
guidance or everyone who has the power to make changes to the distro 
ignoring requests for information about how to get changes into the 
official release, I have had trouble contributing.  One example is that it 
would be easy for me to package a speakup kernel module, but the ones they 
have had in the past in source code would be broken or not even patch 
correctly.  It would be nice to have a binary package or at least source 
that would work via module assistant.  I would be glad to help with that, 
but no one ever responds as to how I can help in that way for the official 
distro.  It isn't just the accessibility team though.  I have wanted to 
help where certain scientific packages were concerned but did not find it 
easy to figure out how to help and submit a package.  Sometimes 
technologies can be glued together to work within a distro by people who 
are familiar with using them, but it seems difficult to try and get on the 
official team.

Thanks,

Pia

On Mon, 17 May 2010, Tim Cross wrote:

>
> I suggested moving this discussion off list as I've found in the past that
> general accessibility issues on a distribution specific list are not always
> welcomed. If the general feeling of list participants is that this sort of
> discussion is on topic, interesting and useful, I have no problems keeping it
> on the list.
>
> Having said that, I also think it would be valuable if we try to also consider
> and discuss, what, if anything, we can do to improve the situation on Ubuntu
> in particular and linux in general. While I do feel slightly out of my depth
> with respect to VR related issues, I am still interested in the topic.
>
> I do think we need to have some focus on what we can do to improve the
> situation, even if that improvement is only to increase awareness and
> understanding of the issues. What I'd like to avoid is ending up in a circular
> discussion of the issues which ends up being only a philosophical debate
> that simply re-hashes the same old accessibility issues we are all too
> familiar with. It would be good if we could arrive, after discussion and
> debate, at a point where some strategy could be defined to actually move
> things forward. Is this possible or do we still need to understand the issue
> more? Are we in a position to even look at this yet or do we still need to
> work at understanding the issue and what may be possible. Do we run a risk of
> over thinking things and what we really need to do is just push full speed
> ahead and damn the torpedoes or do we need to gather more resources and people
> before we can do anything?
>
> So many questions, so little time!
>
> Tim
>
> Pia writes:
> > I just wanted to ask that you guys not take this topic off list.  It was
> > one of the most seriously useful conversations that has been on here for a
> > long time, because it looks at the future of a barely functional state of
> > things which is really what we all should be concerned about.  So, I have
> > been reading the thread closely.  I just have not added much yet, because
> > I would just be repeating much of what has already be said at this point.
> >
> > Kind Regards,
> >
> > Pia
>
> -- 
> Tim Cross
> tcross at rapttech.com.au
>
> There are two types of people in IT - those who do not manage what they
> understand and those who do not understand what they manage.
> -- 
> Tim Cross
> tcross at rapttech.com.au
>
> There are two types of people in IT - those who do not manage what they
> understand and those who do not understand what they manage.
>