Re: Senseless Bickering and Overpoliticization
Aaron Van Couwenberghe <vanco@sonic.net> writes:
> I suggest that something be done:
>
> Someone needs to study up and get a chronological list of attempts that have
> been made at making the Debian beaurocratic machine a bit more efficient.
If you feel that is the case, than please do so, but I believe you
would be misdirecting your time and attention.
There really is not much of a beaurocratic machine here. There are
some decisions that are hashed out in the various mailing lists and a
few people who have been given responsibility to make certain
decisions. It's not a beaurocracy by any stretch of the imagination.
The discussion and hashing out of issues on these lists is healthy,
provided it does not degenerate into worthless flamewars, and will
always be around. It's distubing to see it regarded as something
bad,to be minimized or done away with. The recent set of issues which
have not lent themselves to being speedily resolved are now drawing
closer to resolution, summer can be a turbulent time with lots of
vacations, and exams early on.
> If Debian as a whole can come to a consensus that the democratic (read:
> every member has an equal amount of instant influence on the project's path,
> like ancient Greece) structure needs a bit of re-thinking, a moderated (but
> available to the public) discussion should be held about reorganization.
> Only a small number of the most well-known players in Debian should be
> allowed to participate, if they want to. Participants would hopefully
> consult the rest of the community for ideas.
The democratic aspects of Debian's structure are quite limited in
their applications, there have only been five votes so far, three of
them having to do with the logo. The majority of effective decision
making power manifests both thru the creation of working code that can
be integrated into the preset system or migrated to, and thru the open
discussion of topics, often with established and proven developers
gaining the confidence of participants.
> If this discussion can yield any workable political outline for Debian, it
> should be voted upon.
I myself am not interested in more discussion about 'political
structure' in Debian. I want to work on Debian, build packages, and
integrate them. I believe that many share my sentiments. A political
structure would contribute nothing to this, but divert resources away
from code. I think the current mechanisms of forming ad-hoc working
groups, and task forces to address issues has done well, and has kept
us focused on working, rather than electioneering or politicing. I
see no reason to attempt to develop some overstructure to this beyond
the very simple structure and decision making process outlined in the
constitution.
I am not implying that you are not a "proper contributor" or anything
like that in my explanation of how effective decision making power
mmanifests in Debian. Please do not take this as a "what have you
done for Debian lately?" reply.
--
Craig Brozefsky <craig@red-bean.com>
Free Scheme/Lisp Software http://www.red-bean.com/~craig
"riot shields. voodoo economics. its just business. cattle
prods and the IMF." - Radiohead, OK Computer, Electioneering
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