Gamerification in the Community

[Jono Bacon]

On 9 December 2014 at 20:20, cprofitt <cprofitt at ubuntu.com> wrote:
> On Tue, 2014-12-09 at 23:01 -0500, Scott Kitterman wrote:
>> > There is a place for people who do not use Ubuntu. We have graphic
>> > designers and other 'experts' that work for Canonical that are not using
>> > Ubuntu. They still, albeit paid, contribute to Ubuntu.
>>
>> In my view, while they are Canonical employees whose work affects Ubuntu [the
>> project] if they aren't using free software, I have a hard time including them
>> in my mental model of a free software community.
>
> Interesting point of view. I am not closed to the idea that people can
> not contribute unless they use free software. While I would prefer that
> I do not discount contributions based on what or who produced valuable
> contributions.

I agree with Charles here. There are many people out there who invest
their time and energy in creating Free Software who don't run a Free
Software OS. As an example, there are literally thousands of Mac users
out there filling GitHub up with Free Software code. I would consider
them wonderful contributors to our wider Free Software commons. Let's
not discriminate on choices, let's discriminate on output.

>> > Xubuntu, to me, is still part of the Ubuntu Community and I would not
>> > feel comfortable excluding anyone running a flavor (official or not).
>>
>> If you imagine that would even be open to question, then I think you are
>> deeply confused about what Ubuntu [either the open source project or the Linux
>> distribution] is about.  The Ubuntu community has always been bigger than
>> people who work on stuff that Canonical cares about.
>
> I am not sure how you twisted my comments to that point of view, but I
> can ensure that I am not deeply confused. I understand that the Ubuntu
> Community is larger than the distribution Ubuntu or other work that
> Canonical does. It is larger than any 'flavor' or individual component.
> Ubuntu is larger than the sum of all the parts.

>From my vantage point I think Charles has a very crisp understanding
of the Ubuntu community, how it is structured, and how it operates. I
think you know that too, Scott.

>> I'm deeply troubled that you see people who are no part of the free software
>> community as more part of Ubuntu than people using and developing Ubuntu [the
>> Linux distribution].
>
> I am deeply troubled that you twisted what I said. I am surprised you
> exclude people from being part of a free software community because they
> use some non-free software. Does that include anyone who uses a non-free
> driver like Nvidia or Intel drivers? I wish to make the community larger
> by including people who believe in the same ideals, even if they still
> use some non-free software.
>
> I am concerned that you take a message that I meant to ensure people
> knew they were included and twisted it to be a negative.

I thought the same thing, but this has been happening for a long time.

Scott, I like you as a guy and I respect you for your technical
contributions, but your tone and demeanor is always *so* negative.
Almost every email I have read from you in these recent threads has
been overtly critical, negative, and pessimistic.

I am not saying this because you are critical of Canonical. I am not
saying this because we disagree on some points. I am saying this
because many people who have the same critical and disagreeing
viewpoints engage in a way that focuses on practical and positive
progress...on making the future for our community (a community that
makes many *buntus) a better place...in focusing on the bigger picture
of what is important as opposed to death by a thousand cynical paper
cuts.

I am not expecting a happy-slappy kumbaya discussion where we all
agree. I expect us all to have differences...it is our differences
that make us better people, that help us to look at the world through
a different lens. Your constant negative tone and demeanor is wearing
though, and I would posit that it is demotivating for our community to
read. It certainly demotivates me. I am tired of unconstructive
whinging, and I yearn for constructive problem-solving.

As a comparison, look at Elizabeth Krumbach. Or Scott Ritchie. Or Alan
Bell. Or Iain Lane. Or Ian Weisser. Or David Wonderly. Or Jonathan
Jesse. Or Lucas Nussbaum. Or Mario Limonciello. Or many other folks.

All of these people have at one point been critical of Canonical or
our community. They have expressed their concerns and criticisms
though in a productive and focused way. They have never compromised
their position or perspectives, but they have engaged in a way that
focuses on making things better, not harping on past frustrations from
their own remembered version of history.

> Can we move forward in a positive manner?

I hope so.

I really do mean it when I say I respect you, Scott; you have a
perspective and technical expertise that our wider community needs.
You have been around these parts long enough to know the lay of the
land and what is realistic and unrealistic. Your commitment and
dedication is admirable.

I respect the many others in these discussions too.

We all have something to give and we all have valuable perspectives to
share, but if we don't base these discussions on a model of proactive
problem-solving we will just end up in circular flamewars that never
move our community forward.

I am not trying to censor anyone or tell people they can't be frank in
their feedback (even though I am certain some of you will accuse me of
doing so). I *really am not trying to censor you*.

All I am asking for, as I mentioned before, is that for every problem
we identify from the past, let's focus our collective efforts on
solutions moving forward that are practical and will help our wider
community to do awesome things.

Sorry for the long email.

   Jono