Ubuntu Governance: Reboot?

Scott Kitterman ubuntu at kitterman.com
Wed Nov 19 04:58:48 UTC 2014


On Tuesday, November 18, 2014 06:02:17 PM Randall Ross  wrote:
> Hi Ubuntu folks!
> 
> I'd like to echo a couple of points that Jono touched upon, and also
> toss in a couple of (possibly) new thoughts that were either overlooked
> or understated in the discussion that ensued after his initial post. I'm
> going to keep this brief.
> 
> First, I share Jono's delight in seeing the re-ignition of lively
> conversation. I've been feeling for some time that the Ubuntu
> (non-local) world was getting "too quiet". Though the topic-at-hand was
> a reboot, and even if that is not ultimately pursued, at least we will
> have exposed some new ideas and catalyzed the discussion.
> 
> In any project that is collaborative in nature, there will be dominant
> collaborators (stakeholders/partners) and less-dominant ones. We should
> recognize that although Canonical dominates some aspects of Ubuntu.
> 
> I would also like to point out that our community is not just a
> contributor community. Not everyone has the time or the opportunity to
> contribute now. Though I wish the situation were different, I think it's
> a reality that we should all consider as we discuss reform. Reform must
> include people that do not contribute, or only marginally contribute.
> 
> That touches on another word. I alluded to it in my comments on Jono's
> blog, but I think it bears repeating: I think the word to keep in mind
> is *reform*, and not only governance. (I think Charles pointed out that
> governance is not the same as leadership.) I believe that if we are to
> *reform* Ubuntu, then governance probably isn't the best place to start.
> I want to see an enthusiasm-building effort kicked off as a starting point.
> 
> Ubuntu is certainly special, as Jono pointed out. It is also at risk.
> The people who want Ubuntu to succeed in a big way have the opportunity
> to examine the project and its goals, and then to align a community to
> those goals. If we don't, we will create friction and ultimately we will
> lose.
> 
> If you are aware of any aspect of the project that is creating friction
> that works against success, then I would encourage you to challenge it
> by example, not only words.
> 
> Finally, and this will likely not come as a surprise, I encourage
> everyone to get *local*. When I say local, I mean in your village, town,
> or city. That's where the real progress can be made. Instead of trying
> to boil the ocean with an overarching structure, let's make thousands of
> nice cups of tea :)

Reform implies a problem to be solved.  I've read both Jono's an your blog 
posts more than once, and I've yet to identify an actual problem that can be 
solved by an actual proposal.

"Reform - we should have some" isn't a plan.  Starting off with alienating 
existing contributors isn't so great either.

Scott K



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