Call for nominations: Developer Membership Board

[Dan Streetman]

On Tue, Mar 8, 2022 at 9:44 PM Seth Arnold <seth.arnold at canonical.com> wrote:
>
> On Tue, Mar 08, 2022 at 10:37:07AM -0500, Dan Streetman wrote:
> > In any case, all this formality really is exhausting and I don't care
> > to pursue it, since you seem to be saying that I can't call for a DMB
>
> I've been having this thought a lot the last few years.
>
> A lot of the Ubuntu structures feel like they may have had a place in the
> early days, when there were thousands of enthusiasts all contributing at
> once and trying to coordinate how they were going to do all that.
>
> Now it feels like we've got the ossified remains of a lot of committees
> and teams and boards and I just don't know how much of it is still
> relevant to the Ubuntu of today. Every piece serves a role so it's not
> like I can just point to any one specific thing and say we ought to scrap
> it, but I remember watching what felt like dozens of DMB meetings where
> not enough members showed up, not enough members voted, and the poor
> applicants could go weeks or months (or more?) without an answer.
>
> That kills enthusiasm.
>
> I'm sorry that I don't have a solution to recommend but I think I'd like
> to suggest that we try stepping back from bureaucracy when opportunities
> arise.

Thanks Seth, I think that summarizes my frustrations extremely well.

I don't know if I have the energy to step back into working on the
DMB, but I am trying to pre-emptively address this with my proposed
charter for the backports team (in case you haven't seen it):
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuBackports/Charter

Essentially, what I see as absolutely critical to Ubuntu teams is for
the team members to focus on the team *mission*, and appoint *one*
person as administrator to handle all the administrivia/bureaucracy.
The *mission* of the DMB has become completely and totally lost in the
needless administration of rules, and that only serves to make the
problem worse as the (volunteer!) team members lose interest.

I think at this point, the DMB desperately needs a charter, so these
team-wide discussions about administration can end, and an
administrator to take responsibility (and have authority) to make sure
the team makes progress on its mission.

>
> Thanks
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