Lack of Connection Between Canonical and the Community

[Jono Bacon]

On 7 December 2014 at 20:07, Benjamin Kerensa <bkerensa at ubuntu.com> wrote:
> That is right but one things that not been answered and I do not think there
> is consensus on is how much control does the community possess over Ubuntu?
> I think the control it has is very small.
>
> Good post on commercial interests in open source projects and community by
> Automattic CEO Matt Mullenwag:
> http://ma.tt/2010/09/wordpress-trademark/
>
> TL;DR Commercial interests will always trump community and open source
> project ideals when the corporation has total control.
>
> Seriously though I say this to you all because I care... You all need to
> start standing up for the community and its values and not let commercial
> interests be the only thing Ubuntu is about anymore. You do have a voice and
> we may not always agree but think about it and reflect back.
>
> We lost 31 Ubuntu Members in the last 12 months and UDS participation is
> down over a few UDSes and LoCo's active are down over the last couple years.
> Why do you think this is? Do you really think its lack of leadership? Lack
> of innovation? I think it has nothing to do with those things.

I don't think you have this quite right, Ben.

There is no doubt that Canonical's stewardship and decision-making
over Ubuntu has caused some people to leave, but the very same
stewardship and decision-making in other cases has encouraged others
to participate and be inspired to join the Ubuntu family.

Like anything, there are many different factors that have caused us to
get to the position we are in today. For us to say X is the problem
and Y or Z are definitely not is probably naive: there are hundreds of
factors in place here.

The basic premise of my blog post, follow-up blog post, follow-up
discussion, and participation in the CC meeting is that there is a
huge amount of untapped potential in Ubuntu. I believe we should
codify examples of that (my so called 'impact constitution' that I
suggested), and work with our leaders in the community (whether
formalized such as the CC and TB, or informal such as many of the
folks on Planet Ubuntu) to inspire a new generation to participate in
Ubuntu.

Sadly, in much of this discussion some people have merely wanted to
keep harping on issues of the past as opposed to providing
constructive learnings from those lessons and proposing new and fresh
ideas. I believe this is a waste of time and destructive.

As such, I want to suggest a new rule for our discussions moving forward. :-)

Anyone who wants to cite problems of the past has to now (a) identify
the pragmatic un-emotional lessons from those problems that we can
learn from, and (b) propose fresh ideas for progress and improvements
that learn from those lessons and make Ubuntu better.

Now, let's be practical. Canonical is not going. Physical UDSs are
probably not coming back. Let's work within the understanding of our
culture today and provide practical, realistic suggestions for
improvements and refinements. If some of that feedback is focused on
Canonical, that is great. I can 100% guarantee you that a practical,
un-emotional, but frank suggestion directed at Canonical for an
improvement in their stewardship of the project will be much better
received than a ranty "you screwed this up in the past!!1!".

I proposed five practical things we can do to help our community
thrive. What five practical suggestions do you all have? I would love
to hear them!

Thanks,