On Mon, 29 Nov 2004 14:28:13 -0800, Steve Langasek <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Side topic: > > Are there aspects of Debian's structure and/or culture which you believe > contribute to a feeling of a "big, remote organization" when compared with > other large Open Source projects, or is size the main factor?
Indeed there are. The fact that I have to maintain packages to be something more than just "A user", the fact that I have to go through the NM process to be able to vote, and the fact that lots of the important decisions are taken by a really small group and I am too unimportant to participate. In other OS projects, the only limitation to being or not being a member is "contributing", in whichever way you might contribute. You don't have to go through a long process just to feel "part" of the project. Maybe you won't be granted CVS access immediately, but when you contribute a patch, your name appears in the changelog and you consider yourself part of it. (I know that names also appear in changelogs in Debian, but these are kind of much more difficult to find and they give this feeling that they aren't really important). I know that Debian is a big project, and that this is the main reason for all these things I'm pointing out, but yet I feel that not every big project has to be like this. Let's say, GNOME, for example, they have a team called Gnome-Love that works with people who want to get involved with the project and encourages them to find their way around so that they can really contribute. I know that debian-mentors is related to this, but in the case of Gnome, I feel they really want more contributors, in the case of Debian, I feel that I have to prove that I can be a good contributor before someone wants me to be part of the project. Also, the violence of [EMAIL PROTECTED] is a big draw-back. It has the effect that I am so wary of saying something wrong that I end up not participating, or at least not as much as I would like to. There are lots of things I like about the project, though, and that's why I want to contribute. But as I've said more than once before, if we *really* want to take over the world, and -more seriously- we **really** are devoted to our users, then we should start building a more open community. How can users be our first priority if we can't listen to what they want and what they are asking for? How can we devote ourselves to someone we don't know? I'm thinking about talking about all this in the next Debconf, but I'm afraid I'll be tossed rotten tomatos (or their verbal equivalent). -- Besos, Marga
