Community Council Statement: Jonathan Riddell

Benjamin Kerensa bkerensa at ubuntu.com
Sat May 30 18:46:57 UTC 2015


Maybe the KC was unclear that was a request from the CC since you
previously said
your communication was as an individual. Again the CC in my experience
almost
always emails teams directly and setups up a time.... Usually I have seen
Lyz send out these invites on behalf of the CC.

On Sat, May 30, 2015 at 11:40 AM, Michael Hall <mhall119 at ubuntu.com> wrote:

> On 05/30/2015 12:29 PM, Benjamin Kerensa wrote:
> > Maybe the CC should make a request to meet? AFAIK the CC other than its
> > "request" for Jonathan
> > to step down has not actually formally asked the KC to meet with the CC.
> >
>
> From the emails that ScottK posted on his blog, you will find at least
> the following.
>
> cproffit:
> "We have a few members who are not on-line currently and have not read
> the email so I can not speak for them, but do you feel that a meeting
> with the Kubuntu Council and the Community Council would be a good step
> forward in this matter?"
>
> cproffit:
> "I think the point in the discussion would be to better understand why
> the CC came to this conclusion that they had to make this request. It
> may not change minds on either side, but we should have the discussion."
>
> me:
> "Let’s get together on IRC, Google Hangout, or any other medium that
> works for you so that we can work through this together."
>
> me:
> "If you feel there is a reason for the CC to once again trust Jonathan’s
> intentions, then by all means let’s talk about it.The CC and the KC are
> not adversaries, we are partners. We are eager to have this discussion
> with you."
>
> me:
> "So I invite any members of the Kubuntu Council who
> want to talk to pick a time and a place for us to talk."
>
> me:
> "If anybody wants to talk to me, or yell at me, or tell me what a stupid
> thing we’ve done and how big of a jerk I am, I am mhall119 on Freenode
> and my email address is below...At this point I don’t care what is said
> so long as we finally start talking."
>
>
> > Isn't that the usual process that the CC emails teams it want to meet
> > with and makes a
> > request? Having been on one of the teams the CC meets with I recall it
> > working that way.
> >
> > On Sat, May 30, 2015 at 9:14 AM, Michael Hall <mhall119 at ubuntu.com
> > <mailto:mhall119 at ubuntu.com>> wrote:
> >
> >     In that case I hope that any member of the KC who doesn't adhere to
> that
> >     condition will contact any of us on the CC so we can start that
> dialog.
> >
> >
> >     Michael Hall
> >     mhall119 at ubuntu.com <mailto:mhall119 at ubuntu.com>
> >
> >     On 05/29/2015 11:48 AM, Benjamin Kerensa wrote:
> >     > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallacy_of_quoting_out_of_context
> >     >
> >     > On Fri, May 29, 2015 at 8:43 AM, Benjamin Kerensa <
> bkerensa at ubuntu.com <mailto:bkerensa at ubuntu.com>
> >     > <mailto:bkerensa at ubuntu.com <mailto:bkerensa at ubuntu.com>>> wrote:
> >     >
> >     >     "However, the Kubuntu Council put a condition of the Community
> >     >     Council’s request to Jonathan be removed before they would
> agree to
> >     >     a meeting.[3, 4, 5]"
> >     >
> >     >     Incorrect. Those were all individuals who made it clear they
> were
> >     >     speaking as individuals just like the individuals of the CC
> made
> >     >     clear their early emails were not representative of the CC as
> a whole.
> >     >
> >     >
> >     >
> >     >     On Fri, May 29, 2015 at 6:59 AM, Charles Profitt
> >     >     <ubuntu at cprofitt.com <mailto:ubuntu at cprofitt.com>
> >     <mailto:ubuntu at cprofitt.com <mailto:ubuntu at cprofitt.com>>> wrote:
> >     >
> >     >         __
> >     >
> >     >         The Community Council is currently working on a
> communication to
> >     >         the Kubuntu Council with regard to their request for
> additional
> >     >         information. The Community Council will be providing a
> much more
> >     >         detailed list of incidents, with context, to the Kubuntu
> >     >         Council. The Community Council  wishes to respect the
> privacy of
> >     >         those involved so those details will not be made public by
> us.
> >     >
> >     >
> >     >         The details below are meant to give the larger Ubuntu
> Community
> >     >         more information on the issue.
> >     >
> >     >
> >     >         The Ubuntu Community Council (CC)  believes in making the
> Ubuntu
> >     >         community a wonderful place to participate. We strongly
> support
> >     >         people treating one another with respect regardless of
> their
> >     >         differences of opinion.
> >     >
> >     >
> >     >         It is important that it is understood that we will not be
> >     >         reversing that decision.
> >     >
> >     >
> >     >         Framework:
> >     >
> >     >         We would like to better explain the framework the Community
> >     >         Council used to make this difficult decision.
> >     >
> >     >           *
> >     >
> >     >             Be Respectful
> >     >
> >     >               o
> >     >
> >     >                 Disagreement is no excuse for poor manners.
> >     >
> >     >               o
> >     >
> >     >                 Assume good intentions.
> >     >
> >     >           *
> >     >
> >     >             Value decisiveness, clarity and consensus
> >     >
> >     >               o
> >     >
> >     >                 Disagreements, social and technical, are normal,
> >     but we
> >     >                 do not allow them to persist and fester.
> >     >
> >     >           *
> >     >
> >     >             We value discussion, data and decisiveness
> >     >
> >     >               o
> >     >
> >     >                 Ultimately, if a decision has been taken by the
> people
> >     >                 responsible for it, and is supported by the project
> >     >                 governance, it will stand.
> >     >
> >     >           *
> >     >
> >     >             Take responsibility for our words and our actions
> >     >
> >     >               o
> >     >
> >     >                 If someone has been harmed or offended, we listen
> >     >                 carefully and respectfully, and work to right the
> >     wrong.
> >     >
> >     >
> >     >         Communications with Jonathan Riddell:
> >     >
> >     >         Starting in December of 2013 Jonathan Riddell started a
> series
> >     >         of communications with the Community Council with regards
> >     to IP
> >     >         policy and the community funding program.
> >     >
> >     >
> >     >         The Community Council in good faith believing that
> >     Jonathan was
> >     >         acting with good intentions took action items to work with
> >     >         Canonical to resolve the issues raised.
> >     >
> >     >
> >     >         Over the course of the next two and a half years Jonathan
> >     became
> >     >         increasingly confrontational in his interactions with the
> >     >         Community Council over these two items. At times his
> wording
> >     >         caused offense and were potentially harmful to the
> >     community due
> >     >         to his making worst case assumptions. [1] One of the best
> >     >         examples of this behavior is the March 19th Community
> Council
> >     >         meetings. Jonathan was demanding that the Community
> >     Council make
> >     >         a statement that agreed with his position and was
> unwilling to
> >     >         accept the decision that the Community Council made with
> >     regard
> >     >         to waiting until Canonical had finished a review of the IP
> >     >         policy. In that same meeting Jonathan was insensitive to
> the
> >     >         requests that he be more respectful and that he was making
> the
> >     >         situation more difficult.[2]
> >     >
> >     >
> >     >         To be clear, it is not the individual communications nor
> >     >         questions that were the issue. The questions are valid and
> >     >         important. It was the increasingly hostile tone of the
> >     >         communications coupled with untenable demands and
> >     assumptions of
> >     >         the worst possible behavior on the part of Canonical and
> the
> >     >         Community Council. Jonathan appeared unwilling to take a
> step
> >     >         back and evaluate how he was communicating with the
> Community
> >     >         Council nor was he willing to contemplate anything less
> >     than the
> >     >         worst possible motivation on the part of Canonical.
> >     >
> >     >
> >     >         Based on the pattern of communications the Community
> Council
> >     >         decided to ask Jonathan to step back from leadership for a
> >     >         period of one year. We were careful to delineate that he
> would
> >     >         keep his membership and development rights so that he could
> >     >         continue his excellent work on Kubuntu. The purpose was to
> >     have
> >     >         Jonathan take a break from leadership so that he could
> reflect
> >     >         and we could work on rebuilding a collaborative
> relationship
> >     >         with the KDE Community in Ubuntu.
> >     >
> >     >
> >     >         Private vs Public
> >     >
> >     >         The Ubuntu Community Council values transparency, but we
> also
> >     >         value personal privacy and public reputations. We also
> >     feel that
> >     >         some relationships can best be repaired in private.  Once
> we
> >     >         made the decision with regards to Jonathan we sent an
> email to
> >     >         him and the Kubuntu Council. Their first response
> requested an
> >     >         explanation which we were willing to give and wanted to do
> >     so in
> >     >         a meeting with them. However, the Kubuntu Council put a
> >     >         condition of the Community Council’s request to Jonathan be
> >     >         removed before they would agree to a meeting.[3, 4, 5]
> >     >
> >     >
> >     >         Moving Forward:
> >     >
> >     >         The examples we are citing here are not a full list, but
> serve
> >     >         to explain our decision.
> >     >
> >     >
> >     >         If at any point in the last two and a half years Jonathan
> had
> >     >         paused and considered the assertions that he was being
> >     >         aggressive and making things more difficult, this situation
> >     >         could have been avoided. In the end we felt that Jonathan
> had
> >     >         become unreasonable and was making worst-case assumptions
> >     about
> >     >         the motivations of anyone who did not agree with his
> >     positions.
> >     >         For that reason we have determined that he cannot represent
> >     >         Ubuntu or parts of its community. We hope that, given a
> year,
> >     >         Jonathan will return as a more constructive force in the
> >     community.
> >     >
> >     >
> >     >         Looking back, there has been a constant willingness on
> >     >         Jonathan’s behalf to portray Kubuntu as somehow at odds
> with
> >     >         Canonical or the rest of Ubuntu. The portrayal of the
> >     project as
> >     >         a ‘blue-headed stepchild’, for example, is in and of
> itself a
> >     >         divisive position. We very much want KDE to feel welcome
> and
> >     >         included and there are many other teams that are most
> happy to
> >     >         collaborate to enable the best possible expression of what
> the
> >     >         code has to offer our shared users. We are open and wish to
> >     >         encourage people passionate about both KDE and Ubuntu to
> lead
> >     >         that work.
> >     >
> >     >
> >     >         Now is time to discuss how the Ubuntu Community moves
> forward
> >     >         with Kubuntu as part of that community. We hope that the
> >     Kubuntu
> >     >         Council will reach out to us in the near future and
> discuss a
> >     >         path forward as we continue to work together in the spirit
> >     of “I
> >     >         am what I am because of who we all are.”
> >     >
> >     >
> >     >
> >     >         -----
> >     >
> >     >         [1] On the 23rd of February 2015Jonathan made the following
> >     >         statement:
> >     >         “If the funding from October 2012 really isn't included in
> the
> >     >         current community fund and it simply has been stolen by
> >     >         Canonical this is worse than I had thought.”
> >     >
> >     >
> >     >         [2]On March 19th of 2015 Jonathan made the following
> >     statements:
> >     >
> >     >           *
> >     >
> >     >             “czajkowski: best stop giving in to their stalling and
> >     just
> >     >             make a statement”
> >     >
> >     >           *
> >     >
> >     >             “mhall119: make a public statement saying it is untrue
> and
> >     >             irrelevent”
> >     >
> >     >           *
> >     >
> >     >             “pleia2: so make a public statement that it is untrue”
> >     >
> >     >           *
> >     >
> >     >             “czajkowski: so time to give up on the canonical legal
> >     dept,
> >     >             they have been stalling for a year, enough already”
> >     >
> >     >           *
> >     >
> >     >             “I'm astonished that the CC doesn't understand the
> >     basics of
> >     >             free software or how it can be harmed by claims that
> our
> >     >             software is not Free”
> >     >
> >     >         On March 19th of 2015 the following statements were made to
> >     >         Jonathan which he ignored or derided:
> >     >
> >     >           *
> >     >
> >     >             “Riddell: you're really making this harder than needs
> be,
> >     >             you'd swear the CC sit around doing nothing”
> >     >
> >     >           *
> >     >
> >     >             “Riddell: In order to make a public statement on a
> legal
> >     >             matter the CC would have to have a legal expert
> familiar
> >     >             with international law and the laws of several
> >     countries. I
> >     >             do not feel qualified to make any such public
> statement. I
> >     >             also would like to say that public thrashing about on
> the
> >     >             topic does not help the situation either.”
> >     >
> >     >           *
> >     >
> >     >             “Riddell: I do not see it as an excuse Riddell, but I
> >     would
> >     >             like to ask you to be more respectful of the people
> trying
> >     >             to sort through the issue.”
> >     >
> >     >
> >     >         [3] Charles PThu May 21 12:43:41 UTC 2015
> >     >
> >     >         “I wanted to send you a quick email to let you know the CC
> has
> >     >         received your email and the one directly from Jonathan. We
> have
> >     >         a few members who are not on-line currently and have not
> read
> >     >         the email so I can not speak for them, but do you feel
> that a
> >     >         meeting with the Kubuntu Council and the Community Council
> would
> >     >         be a good step forward in this matter?”
> >     >
> >     >
> >     >         [4] Myriam SThu May 21 21:30:12 UTC 2015
> >     >
> >     >         “ I am sure a meeting would be useful to clarify the
> situation,
> >     >         but personally I am not happy with the threat issued to
> >     >         Jonathan, I think this would need to be resolved before we
> meet.”
> >     >
> >     >
> >     >         [5]Scott KThu May 21 23:39:36 UTC 2015
> >     >
> >     >         “If the CC wants to have a discussion about a
> non-catastrophic
> >     >         path forward, I think that would be wonderful, but I for
> one
> >     >         will not be involved in such discussions what Jonathon is
> under
> >     >         immediate threat.”
> >     >
> >     >         --
> >     >         Ubuntu-community-team mailing list
> >     >         Ubuntu-community-team at lists.ubuntu.com
> >     <mailto:Ubuntu-community-team at lists.ubuntu.com>
> >     >         <mailto:Ubuntu-community-team at lists.ubuntu.com
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> >     >
> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-community-team
> >     >
> >     >
> >     >
> >     >
> >     >     --
> >     >     /*Benjamin Kerensa*/
> >     >     /http://benjaminkerensa.com/
> >     >     /"I am what I am because of who we all are" - Ubuntu/
> >     >
> >     >
> >     >
> >     >
> >     > --
> >     > /*Benjamin Kerensa*/
> >     > /http://benjaminkerensa.com/
> >     > /"I am what I am because of who we all are" - Ubuntu/
> >     >
> >     >
> >
> >     --
> >     Ubuntu-community-team mailing list
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> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > /*Benjamin Kerensa*/
> > /http://benjaminkerensa.com/
> > /"I am what I am because of who we all are" - Ubuntu/
>
>
> Michael Hall
> mhall119 at ubuntu.com
>



-- 
*Benjamin Kerensa*
*http://benjaminkerensa.com <http://benjaminkerensa.com>*
*"I am what I am because of who we all are" - Ubuntu*
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