Debate & Decisions: Repost

Sun Apr 18 03:43:33 BST 2010

Oh yeah, forgot to mention : I like the website redesign, except -- the
half-naked woman at the top is not good. We have enough trouble attracting
women to IT, without turning them off. Using the image of a woman is a good
idea, but put some clothes on her, eh?

Personally speaking, I like half-naked women, but there's a time and a
place. ;)

Steve

On Sun, Apr 18, 2010 at 7:06 AM, AndrewG <gandella at gmail.com> wrote:

> Apologies, I am reposting this as I have been informed that the
> 'Format' of the previous post made it a bit difficult to read.
> Hopefully this rectifies it. I have made no contextual alterations.
>
>
> To the Ubuntu Au community,
>
> On Monday, I posted an email to this list with a proposal to create an
> 'Australian Community Council' (ACC).
> Resulting from this post there have been about 58 replies with about
> 16 contributors.
>
> Firstly, I would like to thank everybody for making a contribution,
> having the courage to speak up and express an opinion.  There have
> been some well thought out replies, some have vented their anger &
> frustration, some have been constructive & others not so.
>
> Over these last few days I have been pondering on how to write this
> email, how to try and re-unite the community. (It might be lengthy,
> these are my own opinions, some may share them, some may oppose.)
>
> We all have one thing in common, a passion for 'UBUNTU'.
> If we didn't why would we bother to engage in a discussion about this
> important issue.
>
> THE DISCUSSION:
> From the discussions it is pretty clear (I think), that there seem to
> be five themes.
>
> 1.  Some people are in favour of an 'ACC', giving the community a say
> in how things are run.
> 2.  Some people are happy with the way things are now.
> 3.  Some people have real grievances about how they have been treated
> in the past (& present).
> 4.  Some people think that 'Less Talk - More Action' is required.
> 5.  The Silent Majority.
>
> "Everybody is right and all of your arguments are valid."
> We bring with us, our own Prejudice, Ego, Agenda, Thoughts and
> Perceptions.
> We just differ on how we perceive the situation. Does it need fixing?
> How to fix it?
>
> THE MODEL:
> When I presented the Model, I admit that it might have scared some
> people (Maybe I didn't sell it enough).
> It is not really a scary document, it does talk about 3 levels,
> 'Local, State, National' and it goes into some detail about Roles,
> Responsibilities, Elections and 'what if' scenarios. I apologise, it
> is due to my 'Systems Analyst', 'Big Picture thinking' and my
> 'Applications/Programmer', 'small details' background.  (That's enough
> about me)
>
> The Model was a collaboration so I can't take all of the credit. (Not
> that I'm seeking it)
> As there has been NO comment on the structure of the model, IMO, it
> must be pretty close to the 'money'.
> Not to say that there is no room for improvement or changes.
> I have made slight changes to it see
> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-au/council/structure-detailed
>
>
> Out of the discussions a couple of concerns that people raised:
> 1.  "The Model is three(3) levels of 'Bureaucracy'
> It is NOT a 'Bureaucracy', there are just three(3) levels
> 'Local'- A group of people on the ground, at a local level, 'City' or
> 'Region'
> 'State'- IF the numbers on the ACC get too large for meaningful
> discussion/decision making
> THEN a 'State Council' would be formed. ELSE a possible 'Talk-Fest'
> with no decision making at the ACC meetings.
> 'National'- A collection of representatives(leaders), from the 'local'
> groups.
>
> Everybody is autonomous, just like it currently stands.
> Anybody can make a contribution in anyway as they see fit (within
> reason, that doesn't damage ubuntu-au).
>
> 2.  "There is no need for 'Titles'"
> It is true that you don't need a 'Title' to make a contribution or be
> a 'Leader'.
> It is also true that you need to 'Earn' a 'Title', through your
> 'Actions'.
>
> However, people are identified through their 'Title', it gives us a
> clue as to their role within an organisation.
> A 'Team Contact' performs a role, a 'Local Contact' performs another,
> a 'Web Master' performs another. etc.
> When a 'New' person comes along, they look for people with a 'Title'
> and have certain expectations.
> An organisation that doesn't APPEAR to have many people with a 'Title'
> does little to inspire peoples' interest (& confidence). 'Who do I
> contact?,  Who do I talk to about this?, Is there somebody local?'
> You may argue that 'what we currently have', addresses these issues,
> IRC, email list etc.  But is it really enough?
>
> 3.  "We don't have the numbers?"
> Is this a 'Chicken & Egg' scenario?  Acccording to the 'Official
> numbers' there are 211 members(launchpad), with 337 subscribers to
> this list. Duplicates ??
> Who knows how many 'Un-official' members we have, Ie. Those who
> register on the 'ubuntu.com.au' website and go no further! (This is a
> question I have been asking, for a long time and have yet to get an
> answer. It seams to be a secret!  I see new people every time I take a
> look at the website.) Then there is 'Facebook', 'Google Groups',
> 'flickr' and numerous other groups around the place.
>
> Maybe the Question should be, "How do we Motivate this silent majority
> to become active?"
> My answer would be "Put in place an environment & structure to foster
> participation"
> We just need to look at the phenomenon of 'Ebay', 'Facebook',
> 'Twitter' to see this. (These may not be the best examples) When you
> build a structure around a sound concept things happen, the 'snowball'
> effect.
>
> One 'Goal' of the ubuntu-au community could be to have a 'Local' group
> in every 'Capital city'.
> Whether it be a part of a 'LUG' or another organisation or
> independently organised.
>
> Currently it seems that we have 'active' groups in 'Brisbane &
> Adelaide'.
> I don't know what happens in 'Melbourne & Sydney', either nothing or
> nobody else hears about it. (I shouldn't have to ask) According to our
> 'wiki membership list' there seem to be many people in 'Sydney &
> Melbourne'.
> I'm sure that there is enough 'leadership' material, for a 'local-
> Contact' & someone to organise.
>
> For the other Capitals, Nothing much happens in 'Hobart, Canberra,
> Darwin or Perth', from what I can tell.
> There needs to be 'Support' & 'A Mechanism' to bring people together
> wanting to form their own 'Local Groups'.
> It is not enough to 'tell' people 'That they need to become more
> active' without helping them. (Less talk More-action)
>
> We have the tools, Website, Wiki, IRC, mailing list but we are not
> using them properly.
> I have created a 'mock' website at www.ubuntu-au.gandella.com to
> illustrate extra information that could be
> conveyed to current & new visitors on our ubuntu.com.au website, but
> this is not the subject of this post.
>
> Currently the numbers on an ACC could be 'Team-Contact, Web-master,
> Brisbane, Adelaide' with possibly 'Sydney & Melbourne'  That makes
> six(6), a nice number to start with.
>
>
> TRIAL PERIOD:  18 Months
> As it has been previously stated there would be a review in 18 months
> time as to the effectiveness of an ACC and the Model.  If it doesn't
> work we can scrap it, if it needs changing we can change it.
> In my mind, 'Nothing ventured, nothing gained"
>
> SUMMARY:
> Nothing really changes, Individuals & Groups are autonomous.
> Nobody will be 'telling' anybody what to do. 'Guiding' yes - 'Telling'
> no.
>
> The ACC (Leadership group) is a visible 'Contact' that provides
> 'Support & Consultation' to the ubuntu-au community, the community at
> large and to each other.
>
> Adopting this model has many advantages, with very few disadvantages.
> Among the best:
> 1. It shares 'leadership' amongst many. (Currently there is very
> little)
> 2. A 'Visible' contact at a local level for existing and new people.
> (Currently limited)
> 3. Co-ordination at a National level. (None at the moment)
> 4. Group goals can be set and implemented. (Currently they are very
> loose)
> 5. Extra communication channels going both-ways. (Currently limited)
> 6. A 'Roadmap' for the 'Present' with the 'Future' in mind. (???)
> 7. We could be a well organised group that is to be taken seriously.
>
>
> IMPLEMENTATION & ACTION:
> Hopefully, I have convinced some of the 'nay-sayers' that this model
> is a good one and that it needs to be implemented.  In some respects
> it is 'already' implemented, anybody has the freedom to create a
> 'Local' group or 'BE' a leader.  It 'Formalises' it a little bit and
> hopefully it will foster more participation amongst ourselves & in
> turn the wider community.
>
> I know that some of you still don't care either way because you are
> happy with how things are currently or that you think that things are
> not broken so why fix.  Some think that there is a problem and that
> this may go part of the way to solve it.  Others just want 'Less Talk
> and More Action'.  Then there is the 'Silent Majority'.
>
> For it to work, it needs the support of this community and especially
> the 'leaders' in the group.
>
> Most importantly it needs the support of out 'Team Contact' Melissa
> Draper.
>
> Melissa, You have been very quiet, observing these proceedings!
> I'm sure that you have an 'Opinion' we would like to hear?
> (You do hold a certain 'Sway' in this community)
> Will you Work (& Share) with the members of an ACC (The
> representatives from 'Local' groups) ?
> Will you allocate access to resources to implement 'change' if it is
> deemed necessary?
>
>
> MOVING THINGS FORWARD:
>
> Can we get some sort of 'CONSENSUS' that this 'PROPOSAL' be
> implemented?
>
> Do we need to take it to a 'VOTE'?  (if we take a vote, how will it be
> validated?)
>
> FINALLY:
> Thanks to Daniel for asking this
> "The question we should be asking is what needs to be done and what
> isn't
> being done with the current system and how adding this will help.   "
>
> I hope that I have gone some of the way in answering your question.
>
> We all have one thing in common, a passion for 'UBUNTU' and that #1
> bug to work on.
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Andrew G.
>
>
> PS.  I have tried to follow the guidelines set down in
> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LoCoResolvingProblems
> This post has been made available as an attachment at
> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-au/council/structure-detailed.
>
> --
> ubuntu-au mailing list
> ubuntu-au at lists.ubuntu.com
> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-au
>
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