Rethinking the Ubuntu Community in Terms of LaunchPad

[Elfy]

On 18/12/14 22:42, Nathan Haines wrote:
> This is a very popular style of email lately, and it's completely 
> contentless.  And this is a big problem because it's a call to action 
> with no regard as to what the action is.
>
> The blog post is even worse (in that it's wrong), but since Svetlana 
> doesn't want to discuss it on the list, I will respect her wishes.
>
> Gustavo, I appreciate that you want to help, and there are a lot of 
> ways you can help without being a developer!  But the best way you can 
> help with development is to be specific in your concerns. For example, 
> your email was extremely vague.
>
> On 12/18/2014 02:22 PM, Gustavo Silva wrote:
>> Although I can't contribute in technical terms, I recognize that LP is a
>> bit out-dated compared to other solutions out there.
>
> In which ways specifically?
>
>> In a sense, most of
>> that blog post makes sense and whoever is responsible for LP should put
>> some work on hands.
>
> Canonical maintains Launchpad and they think it is complete.  What 
> else, then, should they work on?
>
>> However, you guys made clear that it is not that
>> easy. But, the community has a big role in the development of Linux.
>
> Launchpad is not Linux, and the community had never had a notable role 
> in the development of Launchpad, which was created by Canonical to 
> serve their needs in developing Ubuntu.
>
>> Therefore, I think someone must hear us.
>
> Launchpad is a technical development tool.  What is urgent about the 
> opinion of non-developers who don't have a use for Launchpad?
>
>> Our importance has to be
>> considered by them, no matter what.
>
> Bluntly speaking, we're not important.  Those who are important are 
> the target audience of Launchpad, but Canonical considers that to be 
> developers directly working with Ubuntu code.
>
> "No matter what" is almost always wrong.
>
> There's been a lot of general hand-wringing in this thread, but we're 
> trying really hard to come up with concrete things that the community 
> can do.  Launchpad development isn't one of them (because Canonical is 
> no longer actively developing it) but I would love to hear specific 
> goals that you think can be accomplished.
>
> And once we have a set of tasks (not vague concerns), we can all work 
> together on them.
>
Thank you Nathan.

I have had a great deal of trouble trying to make any sense out of the 
myriad of mail threads this discussion has spawned.

Lots of people with ideas - not many with concrete plans or the 
wherewithal to even add their name as actionable.

I'm all for changing things that

- the community can change

- the community can bring change forth

- the community are willing to commit to

But most of what I have been reading has been a variety of "I don't like 
this"

We will get nowhere - and we will get there really quickly - if it all 
stops there, which is what it looks like - there are a few trying to 
push onwards.

We took the pad that people pointed out their pet hates on and made a 
new one - with goals drawn from that list - we wait now for people to 
join in, take responsibility.

When there are goals AND people to take them forward - we can deal with 
blueprints etc and create burndowns showing how close we are to 
achieving these goals.

I hope that makes some sense

Elfy