Ubuntu Governance Reboot: Five Proposals

[cprofitt]

On Mon, 2014-11-24 at 18:27 -0500, Svetlana Belkin wrote:
> Just throwing this out there to start discussing it:
> 
> Jone Bacon wrote another blog post about Ubuntu Governance 
> http://www.jonobacon.org/2014/11/24/ubuntu-governance-reboot-five-proposals/
> -- 

Thank you for making the group aware of this.

There are some core points we can arrange a discussion about:

1.  Mission / Charter
Jono notes that he could not find a mission statement or charter for the
Community council.

There is some guidance currently locate at:
http://www.ubuntu.com/about/about-ubuntu/governance


2.  "Impact Constitution"
"What we are missing though is a document that outlines the impact that
Ubuntu gives you, others, and the wider world…the ways in which Ubuntu
empowers us all to succeed, to create opportunity in our own lives and
the life of others."

I think this could be a positive addition and help the community feel
empowered. This would likely be a living document that would change over
time.

3.  Cross-Governance Strategic Meetings
"Today we have CC meetings, TB meetings, FC meetings etc. I think it
would be useful to have a monthly, or even quarterly meeting that brings
together key representatives from each of the governance boards with a
single specific goal – how do the different boards help further each
other’s mission."

I am still not sure of how this would be a positive or a negative. On
the surface I see this as more 'red tape' and not something that could
inspire. Perhaps it could assist in all members of the council having a
better understanding of other areas of the project, but I would like to
know more about how this would work. I would not want to create
additional red tape in the community.


4.  Annual In-Person Governance Summit
"We have a community donations fund. I believe we should utilize it to
get together key representatives across Ubuntu governance into the same
room for two or three days to discuss (a) how to refine and optimize
process, but also (b) how to further the impact of our ‘impact
constitution’ and inspire wider opportunity in Ubuntu."

I would like to see a community in-person event. It would be wise to
ensure that the funding was secure for multiple years.

5.  Optimize our community brand around "innovation"
"Ubuntu has a good reputation for innovation. Desktop, Mobile, Tablet,
Cloud…it is all systems go. Much of this innovation though is seen in
the community as something that Canonical fosters and drives. There was
a sentiment in the discussion after my last blog post that some folks
feel that Canonical is in the driving seat of Ubuntu these days and
there isn’t much the community can do to inspire and innovate."

This part of the post is the most significant in my opinion. The
community needs to feel it can innovate and inspire the project.


6.  Bonus: Network of Ubucons

I like the idea of holding Ubucons for the community as well. It would
help foster local energy in my opinion. Would Ubucons rotate location?
Would they only be held in conjunction with existing Linux conventions?

I urge everyone to read the post and offer your own suggestions. I think
the real key to the issue at hand is rekindling energy and passion in
the community.

Charles