Finding a good name...

[Neal McBurnett]

On Thu, Apr 17, 2008 at 09:05:08AM -0400, Scott Kitterman wrote:
> I still like Ubuntu Contributing Developers and not just because it's 
> appropriately corporate sounding.  Here are my reasons:
> 
> 1.  It is self describing.  It's a team for people who have contributed to 
> Ubuntu.  We even say "Thank you for your contribution to Ubuntu".
> 
> 2.  Membership is about significant and sustained contribution.  I think 
> it's good to have this in the name.
> 
> 3.  It parallels other uses in English.  A "Contributing Editor"  in the 
> newspaper business, is someone who is a newer editor that is still learning 
> the trade.
> 
> 4.  Because of the above, it's easy to explain.
> 
> 5.  It shouldn't be controversial, so we can just do it and move on.
> 
> To argue against "Hacker" options, in addition to the obvious connotation 
> issue, I completely agree with Jordan Mantha's about this team being about 
> packaging and not about programming.  That only deepens the connotation 
> problem.

These are good points, and I like this name.

I also like the "Apprentice" title in some form.

But I think it would help to put this all in context.  Does someone
have a vision of, or handy link to, all the different sorts of teams
and paths to membership and further involvement that Ubuntu offers?

I know it isn't really a hierarchy and can't do justice to the network
topology here, but e.g.:

Ubuntero, 
 loco member
	ubuntu member

 Ubuntu Contributing Developer/apprentice
	MOTU
		Core-dev

 Loco council
 Regional council
 Technical board
 Community Council 

I think a disadvantage of the "Apprentice" title is that it carries a
bit less weight and some degree of incompleteness, and some people
may want to just stay in that role without feeling pressure to
graduate to MOTU status/responsibility.

Neal McBurnett                 http://mcburnett.org/neal/