[ubuntu-art] Putting Alt Wallpapers Proposal to Rest

[John Baer]

Hello everyone,


When I crafted my proposal for alternate wallpapers I hoped it would be
discussed but I was surprised to see the events unfold as they did.



One of my favorite quotes is “Don’t let what you can’t do stop you from
doing what you can”. I believe we have reached that point with this proposal
but there are some important lessons learned.



The Wiki is an Insecure Solution for Content



I love the fact anyone can enter content, make it available to others in an
open environment, and the opportunities this brings for collaboration. This
strength is also its weakness. As the school yard bully like events of the
past week demonstrates, if someone decides they do not like what was
offered, the words or phasing, your physical absence from UDS, or they just
don’t like you – your content will be ripped from the book and thrown to the
floor. Pleas for “consideration” and “respectfulness” will only fall on deaf
ears.



Sadly we’ve seen this behavior before and members slowly and silently left
this team for more hospital solutions. Comments on this list as recent as
last September made reference to the fact nothing was happening.



Flickr is our Life Vest



Flickr’s greatest asset is the fact content is the property of the owner and
is protected.  In my mind only time would have told if “Alternate
wallpapers” was a good idea as regardless the discussion the true measure is
always submissions.



I failed to see the harm of presenting the Design Team with full
transparency additional choices for their consideration. I also failed to
see the harm in offering to the other communities we support the same
opportunity.  Obviously others felt differently.



Moving Forward



I will move the “Alternate Wallpapers” specification to my blog and out of
harms way. For the near future I will leave the Flickr groups as I would
like to explore if there are collaboration opportunities with the Marketing
Team.



Control of the Wiki is out of my control and as I alluded to earlier I do
not want it to become an impediment to adding value to the community.



I am pleased to see this discussion has spawned other discussions as I hope
offering ideas to the group in the future becomes less painful.


Respectfully,


John
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