Mailinglist Archive: opensuse (3031 mails)

[Philippe Landau <lists@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks for your reply, Joe Zonker :-)
There are higher-ups that don't have the courage/permission
to talk about such sensitive questions on the list.

What does Zonker mean ?

Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier wrote:
> Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier
> openSUSE Community Manager
Maybe the Germans liked it because they like
authority figures they can look up to
and titles having that effect.
To me it is a constant reminder that you are
meant to be at the top.

> > His title says more about Novell's intentions
> > then about the holder of the title.
> Actually, the job was originally to be called "Chief Evangelist," if you look 
> at the original job postings. However, we discussed the title and thought 
> that the "community manager" title was more appropriate and sort of standard 
> within the industry. 
Interesting you should refer to the "industry".
"Industry" and "Community" are not easily reconciled
especially in this age of Corporatism ruling entire states
and working for a Corporation focused on profits for the rich.

> There's a good post here about what a community manager does: 
> http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2006/11/16/what-a-community-manager-does/
> That's not a perfect description of my role, but it certainly is close to the 
> mark. 
>
> I think Novell's intentions are to improve relations with the community, and 
> help openSUSE grow as a project. If they were looking for a more traditional 
> manager type, I don't think I would have been the first choice for the job. 
OK :-)

> > I hope you are aware that names are important
> > carriers of messages.
> You're right. It was hoped that the community manager title was entrenched 
> enough -- look at other community managers like Jono Bacon, for example  -- 
> that people would understand what we intended. 
Canonical/Ubuntu is a perfect example for the deception
tying enthusiastic masses to commercial projects.
Make-believe and hype are built up cult-like
so as to extract blind loyalty, free marketing and contributions.
http://justwars.com/linux/ubuntu/

I hope that isn't your role model ...

> > Great to think that Novell could be investing in bridging the gap
> > between famously detached big corporations and the users ?
> > Is he going to participate here too ?
> Yes. I have been describing my job as part community advocate and ombudsman. 
> I 
> want to be able to get feedback from the community at large and go back to 
> Novell, the openSUSE board, and openSUSE developers, to help articulate the 
> community's needs for openSUSE and also articulate the community's wishes 
> with respect to the direction of the project. 
Excellent.
Though "the community's wishes" could point to "consensus"-rule,
which seems democratic but is "socialist"/dictatorial,
as opposed to "wishes from the community", where individual
interests are balanced not submerged.

> That's not my entire role, but it is a very, very large part of it. 
Great.
May i point you to a problem i am observing here,
a disconnect and break in communication ?
I don't know how interested OpenSuse is in fixing bugs.
When i had difficulty searching for bugs, nobody replied.
Most users seem to have given up filing bug reports
because developers seem disinterested
except in the cases where they are working on something already.
Even Novell's own employees seem to prefer Non-OSS work-arounds
then filing bug reports.
(See for example "Monitor resolution").

> > Or is he there purely to optimise the output
> > of the developers who are working for free.
> No. I do want to make sure that the project is efficient in terms of allowing 
> contributors to get useful work done in areas where they're interested in 
> contributing, my job is *not* to serve as a taskmaster. 
Looking forward to your success, Joe :-)

Kind regards     Philippe
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