Lack of Connection Between Canonical and the Community

[Michael Hall]

On 12/08/2014 01:13 PM, Craig Maloney wrote:
> 
> I think there's a more subtle and different problem in community
> engagement that we're missing.
> 
> Our team participation is down for several reasons. The first is the
> best problem to have: Canonical keeps hiring members of our loco to work
> for them. I number several good friends in our loco as members of Canonical and I'm
> sure that number will continue to increase. The problem from the loco
> perspective though is when it comes time for planning events or other
> activities it's difficult to get these members to participate. These
> folks are already swamped with contributions as part of their day-to-day
> job, and many are participating in sprints or other activities that
> conflict with loco activities.
> 
> The second reason is most of the folks that aren't working for Canonical
> have either moved out of state or have moved on from Ubuntu altogether.
> I'm not sure if the ones that have moved away have joined other locos.
> The ones that have moved to other distributions other than Ubuntu are
> busily using Linux Mint or something else. Regardless there's little
> onus for them to continue working on a project for which they see no
> direct benefit.
> 
> What we're seeing is a shift in the community, both in paid Canonical
> representation (who are busily working on things outside of the
> distribution) and in volunteer representation (who are shifting to other
> distributions).
> 
> I don't see how changing how the community is managed is going to solve
> either of these issues. Saying "Canonical: please stop hiring the
> community" is ludicrous as Canonical would be foolish not to hire within
> the community. Nor can we say "please stop moving away from your loco"
> as that too is silly.
> 
> One suggestion that might help would be for Canonical to allow for more
> participation in local events. But then we run the risk of "Canonical is
> taking over the community" complaints which further divide our already
> fractious community.
> 

I'm a bit confused by this part. Canonical doesn't "allow" participation
in local event, you don't need permission from us to host or attend
them. Canonical can and does provide resources for them, and if asked we
(Community Team specifically) help help with the organization and
arrangements for them. But we're not a gatekeeper, there's nothing
stopping local events from being run however they want.

> The biggest problem is the "us vs. them" mentality that I so often see
> whenever Canonical and the community are mentioned. There's a sense of
> a hapless and powerless community who dare not speak ill of Canonical or
> "bad things will happen". However true the perception is it doesn't bode
> well for drawing in new blood and contributors.
> 
> I know we shouldn't dwell upon the past as it impedes thinking of how we
> can progress in the future. But I submit it's fundamental to figuring
> out how to keep people engaged. Until we solve that we'll continue
> to churn through a lot of smart and talented folks who either join
> Canonical or decide their talents are best used elsewhere.
> 
> --
>   Craig Maloney  (craig at decafbad.net)        http://decafbad.net
>     "Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard, grow big,
>      wear glasses if you need 'em." -- The Webb Wilder Credo
> 

Michael Hall
mhall119 at ubuntu.com