Re: Are users of Debian software members of the Debian community?
Chuck Zmudzinski wrote:
> I have read much of the documentation online about how Debian understands
itself, but I have never heard the term "do-ocracy" before.
As I understand, it is an informal term, as such I don't expect to
find it in formal documents. I read it as meaning "those who do the
work run the show". I believe that is a sensible rule for a community
of volunteers.
> Obviously, my proposal would need to somehow define who are the users
that should be given a formal vote for GRs, the DPL, etc.
I do believe that being open to listening to other people's advice is
a virtue, and that the Debian project should definitely listen to its
users, but I don't think that this should necessarily translate into
voting rights.
Besides, voting isn't always the best way to make decisions. On
technical matters it is usually better to let it to those who know the
subject best, and those are normally the people who routinely work on
it -- which brings us back to the "do-ocracy" concept.
Also, please consider that while voting rights are restricted to
Debian members, discussions are usually open to everybody, so if you'd
like to contribute to Debian's decision-making process, you already
can.
> I actually, after some fruitful
discussion with some of the people on debian-user, tentatively came to the
conclusion that the fact that Debian is created by volunteers is probably one
of the biggest *disadvantages* of Debian software.
If you could explain concisely how you came to that conclusion, I'd
like to read it. My view is quite the opposite but I suppose that
learning a different way of thinking about this issue may help me
widen my perspective.
> you get out of Debian what you put into it.
In fact, I believe I received much more than I gave, and I hope I'm not alone.
Gerardo
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