The year 2020 was difficult in many ways, but it also was important for me: I
joined KDE
e.V. as a consultant in the role of Project Coordinator.
One of the main focuses of mine was supporting the KDE Goals[1] initiative,
which
resulted in creating a formalized process[2].
As you might know (or read in the process), the KDE Goals are to be replaced
roughly
every two years.
This timebox was selected to balance keeping the Goals fresh, and letting the
Goal
Champions have enough time to work on the topics with the community.
Often, the goals have dedicated Sprints[3], where community members from all
over the
world meet up to work together โ this not only greatly accelerates the work,
but also lets
the community create a stronger bond (and is a perfect opportunity to take
group photos
that the Promo team can use later ๐ ).
As you might guess, the previous year was hardly an ideal one for those kind of
events,
and even though Virtual Sprints did happen, they can only be a substitute for
the in-
person ones.
So as the new year started, discussion about a potential extension of the
current Goals
period began. An extension would mean that instead of starting the process of
selecting
new Goals this year, we would do that in 2022 instead.
This has two main benefits:
1. The current goals will get more time to finish the work that is already
ongoing and
was somewhat hindered by the pandemic. And if weโre lucky enough, perhaps by
this
time next year we could even think about having a in-person event.
2. The new Goal Champions will start their reign in a (hopefully) more
predictable
world, with all of us having a better understanding if the vaccines will let us
travel and
meet again. This will help the Champions set the scope of the Goals.
Of course there are some considerations to be made. As mentioned before, the
process
assumes replacing Goals with new ones, so that they reflect the current focus
of the
community. Extending the Goals forever would resolve in a discrepancy between
what the
community wants, and what the KDE e.V. is promoting and helping with. However,
I hope
you agree with me that the current Goals (Wayland[4], Consistency[5], and KDE
is All
About the Apps[6]) are still very much relevant.
The other thing is, Championing can be a demanding task, so our current
Champions
might feel exhausted with an extra year in focus. The good news is, after
talking with
Mรฉven, Niccolo and Jonathan I can confirm that they are ready to extend their
roles for an
additional year. Additionally, I have confirmed with the KDE e.V. Board that
they are OK
with this extension as well.
So this brings me to the part, where I can officially announce, that the KDE
Goals get an
extra year! I hope this will give you more time to engage[1] with the work
being done as
part of this initiative, and also more time to plan out your Goal proposals for
2022 ๐
PS. Speaking of engaging in ongoing work, there is a Wayland Virtual Sprint[7]
currently
active!
--------
[1] https://kde.org/goals/
[2] https://community.kde.org/Goals/Goals_Process
[3] https://community.kde.org/Sprints
[4] https://community.kde.org/Goals/Wayland
[5] https://community.kde.org/Goals/Consistency
[6] https://community.kde.org/Goals/All_about_the_Apps
[7] https://community.kde.org/Sprints/Wayland/2021Virtual
