get the facts: Ship XML or HTML? That is the question.

[matthew.east.ubuntu at breathe.com]

Dear all, 

I'm replying to this because I have had long discussions with Sean about 
this matter. My position is essentially similar to that of Henrik: I also 
happen to be very attracted to the idea of shipping html, and making our 
documentation xml compliant, however I also have been upset by the way that 
this question has been handled from a community point of view. 

The point is Sean, that the matter was not properly discussed, and you went 
ahead and implemented it in your work by writing profiled documents, and so 
on. I understand your point that you were the greatest, maybe at times even 
the only contributor to the project, but if we wish to construct a team 
here, which has good spirit and is going to attract lots of contributors, we 
need a system in which no individual is greater than the team, and the team 
decides on the process and work methodology. The main reason that I have 
been upset by this business is that I have got the impression that you 
intend to direct the team to where you want it to go rather than listening 
to the team and fostering a community spirit. Implementing a change, then 
saying "I'm leaving if this is not adopted" does not help the team to grow 
in the right direction. 

I believe strongly that the things we discussed at the last documentation 
team meeting will help to create a great working methodology for the team, 
especially by "official team status", "regular team meetings", "team 
secretary", "project leaders reporting to the group" etc. I think that this 
will help attract more people to the project, and I really hope that you 
will continue to work within this framework, because your technical 
expertise is an asset to the team. However, in my opinion, we must work as a 
team to succeed. This is the greatest lesson that I've learn from my 
involvement so far in Ubuntu (on -doc and -it): no individual is bigger than 
the team. 

Moving on to the separate question of the Technical Board, like Henrik I 
also believe strongly that where possible, once the team meets and discusses 
a particular issue, it should report changes in its methodology to the 
Technical Board, primarily because we need to foster a spirit of interaction 
and collaboration between the various aspects of the Ubuntu community. I see 
no need to attempt to exclude the docteam from the Ubuntu community. 

Your objections to the Technical Board seem to be based around the fact that 
you do not trust them to accept your view. I would say a few things about 
that. First, I believe that the technical expertise of the person making a 
proposal to the Technical Board will be taken into account in the 
discussion. Secondly, if the system fails you, the correct approach is to 
voice concern about the system, rather than go it alone. There is plenty of 
scope for such concern to be voiced in the Ubuntu community. 

If you are not happy that concern you raised is listened to, you have to 
make your own decisions about whether to accept decisions taken or leave the 
community. But to be frank: in my opinion, in order to work in Ubuntu it is 
necessary to work within the community, which means following rules. 

Matt