Greetings all, As discussed at DebConf, I'd like to renew the general idea of having a group of individuals who are available to help groups in Debian (and even outside, when they're communicating with Debian groups) communicate more effectively with each other. A few different ideas/names/etc have been thrown around, many with connotations that I don't believe get across the right idea, so I've fallen back to a name that I'm familiar with from my work- a facilitator. The definition on Wikipedia matches the general concept and role of DFs (Debian Facilitators): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facilitator To paraphrase a bit from that article- a faciliator is a neutral party who can step in and help move a discussion, meeting, conference call, etc, along. It's a role that I find myself playing quite a bit when working between clients and developers, or between developers and database admins, or between database admins and unix admins. This group is not intended nor qualified to compete with the technical committee regarding rendering decisions of a technical nature, or even to render decisions for any particular Debian group. The point of this group is to help others communicate, understand each other, and reach a concensus (if possible) or to provide guideance and/or direction (such as suggesting that a particular technical issue be referred to the technical committee). At DebConf there was some concensus amoung some random people that this was, notionally, a good idea (though not under this heading, so their views may have changed). To help others understand, I would single out an individual who I believe already fulfill this role- Bdale. I can use him because he's already said he hasn't got time to be part of this group. :) He's a great example of someone who has played this exact role in the past (and probably will in the future, even if not formally :). And so, I'd like to open this idea up to discussion, in particular to those who were not part of the discussion at DebConf. I don't believe forming of this group requires any particular delegation from the DPL at this time, but as this concept grows and becomes more defined, that may be appropriate. As the DPL plays this role some already, I do believe that the DPL will be involved in the group (if to recommend individuals/groups request a DF, or to hear from a DF what a particular discussion revolves around). Thanks! Stephen
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