Re: Questions concerning the DPL board
On Wed, Mar 07, 2007 at 09:55:06AM +0100, Raphael Hertzog wrote:
> Hi,
>
> after reading some of the rebuttals, I have some questions for
> all the candidates (some questions make more sense for the candidates
> who are also in the DPL board that I suggested, but others are free to
> respond as if they were part of the board). When I look at those questions,
> I have the feeling that they are "rhetoric", because most of the answers look
> like self-evident for me. But since we have different opinions around, I
> prefer to ask them so that it's clear for everybody.
>
>
> Some of you feel that the DPL board brings another level of bureaucracy.
That would be me :)
> I think on the contrary, that it enables saner consensus-building than the
> current discussion methods.
>
> 1/ Why do you think that alone you'll be able to take consensual decisions if
> you fear that you're not able to convince a small set of open-minded
> Debian developers?
It's not about being able to take consensual decisions; it's about the
fact that for a Debian Developer who's not a member of the board, having
a board to talk to when there's a problem takes a lot more effort than
having just one person (the DPL) to talk to. Then there's also a bunch
of procedures that need to be created in order to simply be *able* to
take decisions as a group.
Sure, it's a lot easier to reach consensus when there's 10 people to
talk to rather than 1000 people; but I feel that's looking at it from
the wrong side. A proposed board *still* needs to listen to the group of
1000 people to be able to form an opinion that is in the best interest
of the entire project, so you're not really solving anything.
> 2/ Do you agree that the proposed board is a good compromise for a group
> representing Debian's diversity (in terms of opinions at least) while still
> consisting mainly of open-minded people with good communication skills?
No. I think doing so would only really be possible if Developers were to
align themselves in groups of likeminded people, much like political
parties.
> Some of you fear pushing forward your own projects if you don't have the
> implicit project approval through your election.
>
> 3/ Aren't you convinced that your projects are good?
Sure I am.
However, it's not about what I think; it's about what the project thinks
is good. If I want to propose changes to our social culture, but most
people in the project think that's not necessary and that our social
culture is just fine, then who am I to go ahead and forcibly change
stuff anyway?
> 4/ Don't you think that if some of your projects are not good enough, the
> discussion within the DPL board will make that clear?
I'm rather convinced that if the elections clearly show that my ideas
are crap according to most developers, that proposing them to your
proposed board anyway isn't actually a very good idea.
> 5/ Which of your projects can't be done as member of the DPL board? Or
> which of your projects do you believe will be blocked by a DPL board and
> why?
Dunno, that will depend on the board.
[...don't feel as strong about the rest...]
--
<Lo-lan-do> Home is where you have to wash the dishes.
-- #debian-devel, Freenode, 2004-09-22
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