August 2010 - openSUSE Project - openSUSE Mailing Lists

[opensuse-project] How to announce team meetings?
by Andreas Jaeger 25 Nov '10

25 Nov '10

I see different teams announce their team meetings in different ways and suggest to discuss how to do it the best way - and document it. Here's one proposal for this: == Announcing Team Meetings == * Create a meeting page in the wiki to collect the agenda * Add the meeting to http://en.opensuse.org/Portal:Meetings * Get the meeting in the calendar on news.o.o - this way the openSUSE Weekly News Team will add it to their calendar * Announce it via opensuse-announce(a)opensuse.org and news.o.o. for the first meeting or for special meetings * Announce it on your team mailing list * Good practice: Announce a preliminary agenda with topics for the meeting and not only that it will take place Right now we have both the wiki calendar in the meetings portal and the news.o.o calendar, I propose to remove the wiki calendar and point to news.o.o. Thoughts on this? Btw. - I would add the result of our discussion to http://en.opensuse.org/Portal:Meetings, Andreas -- Andreas Jaeger, Program Manager openSUSE, aj(a){novell.com,opensuse.org} Twitter: jaegerandi | Identica: jaegerandi SUSE LINUX Products GmbH, GF: Markus Rex, HRB 16746 (AG Nürnberg) Maxfeldstr. 5, 90409 Nürnberg, Germany GPG fingerprint = 93A3 365E CE47 B889 DF7F FED1 389A 563C C272 A126

10 24

[opensuse-project] Revising the Board election rules
by Andreas Jaeger 15 Sep '10

15 Sep '10

Last years election of seats for the openSUSE board showed that our election rules are not complete. So, before the elections this year start, I propose that we refine the rules and like to start with this post a discussion on how to change them. I see the following situations not handled: * Less candidates than seats for a category (Novell/non-Novell) * Equal number of candidates and open seats for a category (Novell/non- Novell) * a board member resigning * a board member disappearing and not engaging in the board * a board member getting hired by Novell or leaves Novell We also need to clarify when the new board constitutes. We should have a light weight process that is not overly complex and results in endless votes. We vote for people that volunteer their time for the openSUSE project and don’t get any material benefits for it. So, let’s keep that in mind when discussing alternatives. Also, currently the board has five elected seats (three non-Novell and two Novell) that get elected, so it could be that we have enough non-Novell candidates but not enough Novell ones etc. To make this text easier, I will not mention this everytime. I have a first proposal before discussing the situations: The board should be allowed to appoint people to board seats until the next board constitutes. The alternative would be to have a special election when a seat becomes empty. I fear that this just overly complicates the process. New rule: Appointment: In case that board seats will get appointed, they get appointed by the board. Appointed seats are only appointed until the next election. The board can appoint also non-Novell folks on Novell seats and vice-versa. I suggest also to not only have self-nominations but that people can nominate others – and the election officials will then ask the nominated person whether they stand up for election. New rule: Nominations: The election officials will take self-nominations, nominations by others and can nominate people for election. The election officials will contact the nominated people and ask them whether they stand for election. Insufficient Nominations: This is a sorry state since it means that not enough openSUSE members are willing to volunteer for the board. In that case, the board should appoint people to join the board and it can put Novell employees on non-Novell seats and vice-versa. With the next election, the seat distribution would be fixed again. New rule: Insufficient Nominations: If there are fewer nominees for elected Board seats than required to fill all seats, than the board will appoint these remaining seats. The question remains what to do with the candidates that volunteer, let’s handle them in the next case: Equal number of candidates and seats One option here is to just declare the candidates as new board members. This would be the simplest process. In other situations, you have a vote of confidence where people give a yes/no vote for the candidates. One suggestion is a yes/no/abstain vote for the candidates and a candidate needs more yes than no votes to be elected. If somebody does not get elected, the seat gets appointed (see insufficient nominations). Since it could happen that one category has enough nominations but not the other, the voting would be different for both categories and this makes the whole process complicated. So, I suggest to change the rule to have just more than 50 per cent yes votes. New rule: Equal number of candidates of seats: If there is an equal number of candidates and seats, voting occurs as normal but each candidate needs to have more than 50 per cent yes votes. In case that seats do not get elected, the board will appoint them. Board member resigning The board should appoint somebody. New rule: Resigning: If a board member resigns, the board should appoint a new board member. Removal of board member This is something that’s not covered yet as well. What happens if a member disappears virtually? Or what if a board member goes wild? New rule: Removal: In the event of repeated absence without contact, or other serious misconduct or negligence, a Board member may be subject to removal. Before any other process occurs, the Board member in question will be personally contacted by the chairperson to try to resolve the situation. If this contact does not successfully resolve the situation, the Board member in question may be removed by unanimous vote of the other members of the Board. The board should appoint a new board member. Getting hired by Novell or leaves Novell The elected seats are currently either Novell employee seats or non-Novell employee seats. Should a board member resign if he gets fired or hired by Novell? IMO the board should stay functional, the seat was elected. So, again let’s use a pragmatic approach: New rule: Change of employment: The board member will continue to stay in the board until the end of the term and the next election the distribution of seats gets fixed again. Constitution There was some confusion when the new term starts, let’s rectify it. New rule: Constitution: A new board term should start on the first of January, the elections should be finished 14 days before. In the case of delays, the new board will start 7 days after the election results are published. Amendment How can we change the rules? Should the election officials be in charge of them or the board itself? As member of the election officials for the 2009 board election, I propose this change but I suggest that anybody can propose changes but that the board has the final say on them. New rule: Amendment: Changes by the election rules can be done by vote of the board where 2/3s approve including the chairperson. So, once there’s consensus about my changes, I propose that the board approves them as stated in the Changes of elections. Conclusion The current openSUSE Board election rules are available in the wiki. Did I miss any case in the elections? What would you differently than I proposed? Btw. I read the Fedora guidelines on Board elections and also read also what Jono Bacon wrote in “The Art of community management” on governance. Published also via: http://lizards.opensuse.org/2010/08/25/revising-the-board-election-rules/ Andreas -- Andreas Jaeger, Program Manager openSUSE, aj(a){novell.com,opensuse.org} Twitter: jaegerandi | Identica: jaegerandi SUSE LINUX Products GmbH, GF: Markus Rex, HRB 16746 (AG Nürnberg) Maxfeldstr. 5, 90409 Nürnberg, Germany GPG fingerprint = 93A3 365E CE47 B889 DF7F FED1 389A 563C C272 A126

10 40

[opensuse-project] openSUSE Strategy Discussion: Status quo strategy proposal
by Andreas Jaeger 14 Sep '10

14 Sep '10

Today we continue with public discussions about strategy proposals, this time with the "Status quo" strategy proposal: ---8<------8<------8<------8<------8<------8<--- == Statement == We deliver a well-balanced GNU/Linux platform for modern computers (workstation, laptop, netbook, server) that equally appeals to end users, power users, developers and server/network infrastructure administrators. It shall protrude professionally and let the user be productive. == Background == This strategy tries to quantify what we tried to do in the past — as it was not written down earlier. So, this is what most users expect from openSUSE today, but does not give a vision for change looking forward. In the context of other distributions, we differentiate ourselves from Ubuntu targeting the newbie and further differentiate from Fedora being experimental bleeding edge — instead we pick "the middle ground". == Key ideas == * Creation of a general purpose distribution that ** anyone can use without too much effort ** is known for good quality (stable and usable but neither outdated nor bleeding edge) ** has good and sane defaults so the user can do what s/he wants to do ** has programs that work out of the box ** focused on modern hardware and their use cases (workstations, laptops, netbooks and servers) ** is targeted towards end users, but is reasonably equally usable for other workloads * Critical analysis of hyped items before inclusion == Activities == === We need to be excellent in the following === * Do as we always did! That is, ** good compromise between actuality and stability ** agreeable release cycle of 8 months ** support for the three most recent releases * Supporting our target customers ** End users: *** Delivering multiple desktops, focusing on both GNOME and KDE *** Focus on providing tools for being productive and creative (IDEs, editors, authoring tools, graphics manipulation, office productivity, etc.) ** Developers: *** Development environments for especially C, C++, Perl, Python, Java, Ruby: IDEs, tools and support libraries ** Power users and system administrators: *** Providing admin tools that are powerful yet (reasonably) easy *** Agreeable command line experience *** Virtualization technique, e.g. KVM, Xen *** Standard networking services * Continue the naturally growth of openSUSE:Factory by incorporating contributors' submissions. === We will try to do the following effectively === * Innovate and keep up with latest upstream developments. * Include a more minimalistic desktop environment. * Provide a low entry barrier for potential contributors. With the openSUSE Build Service, it is easier to make contributions than any other Linux distribution to date. * Offer easy creation of specialized install media (appliances) through SUSE Studio. * Good presentation and marketing, in particular communicating our existing strengths and unique features (i.e. competitive advantages). * The usual niceties: speed, less bloat, possibility of minimality. === As project, we will not focus on the following === (fill in if exists) -- Andreas Jaeger, Program Manager openSUSE, aj(a){novell.com,opensuse.org} Twitter: jaegerandi | Identica: jaegerandi SUSE LINUX Products GmbH, GF: Markus Rex, HRB 16746 (AG Nürnberg) Maxfeldstr. 5, 90409 Nürnberg, Germany GPG fingerprint = 93A3 365E CE47 B889 DF7F FED1 389A 563C C272 A126

13 28

[opensuse-project] community references
by Andreas Jaeger 08 Sep '10

08 Sep '10

I've started to collect some references that could be relevant for our openSUSE community. As the Community statement states, we'd like to have a friendly, welcoming, vibrant, and active community - and grow it. openSUSE is a unique community project. Communities seems to be one of the web 2.0 buzz words and therefore a lot gets written about how to create and keep a lively and healthy community. Some of that is relevant for openSUSE as well. This page collects - mainly links - to information about community projects and their best practices. The goal is a reference for those that like to look beyond our own openSUSE community to learn from others. The URL is: http://en.opensuse.org/openSUSE:Community_references Remy already polished and added stuff and I'd like you to invite updating the page - and using it, Andreas -- Andreas Jaeger, Program Manager openSUSE, aj(a){novell.com,opensuse.org} Twitter: jaegerandi | Identica: jaegerandi SUSE LINUX Products GmbH, GF: Markus Rex, HRB 16746 (AG Nürnberg) Maxfeldstr. 5, 90409 Nürnberg, Germany GPG fingerprint = 93A3 365E CE47 B889 DF7F FED1 389A 563C C272 A126

7 13

[opensuse-project] Get full satisfaction with a larger size
by opensuse-project＠opensuse.org 03 Sep '10

03 Sep '10

Ranked #1 Men's Supplement by FHM magazine, find out more here http://www.manshorts.ru/ -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-project+unsubscribe(a)opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-project+help(a)opensuse.org

9 12

[opensuse-project] fzpl n8
by Charlie Helga 30 Aug '10

30 Aug '10

7ep -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-project+unsubscribe(a)opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-project+help(a)opensuse.org

3 2

[opensuse-project] getv 900
by Ellena James 27 Aug '10

27 Aug '10

0 -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-project+unsubscribe(a)opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-project+help(a)opensuse.org

1 0

[opensuse-project] Bugzilla is missing in the wiki?
by pistazienfresser 27 Aug '10

27 Aug '10

Hello wiki-list! A) The problem: *There seems to be no article about Bugzilla in the wiki* Maybe someone could help the consumer a bit if she/he needs help from the wiki with bugzilla about the issues: 1) a) to know what bugzilla is - the description and the definition (the wiki helping the consumer to get basic knowledge about a essential part of the openSUSE project - in my opinion the lowest level, according to the telos/meaning of namespaces, namespace definitons and namespace rules: so namespace 0=main or at least namespace 102 = portal) b) to know if someone else has the same problem (troubleshooting/support - I think that would be the most wanted but according to the words of the definition a article only on this issue would be member of namespace SDB) 2) a) wants the developers to tell about a problem that he has so that the developers can help him (article about to get help by by telling the helpers about the problem - namespace SDB) b) wants to help the developers to improve the distribution by telling them about a problem hat she/he had (article about helping the helpers by telling the helpers about the problem - namespace openSUSE) c) wants other users to tell about a workaround/solution he had figured out (the wiki helping to help the potential helper to tell the users/consumer about a possible resolution - namespace openSUSE) B) The plot/the detailed description: The last night I saw a edit according to a problem that prevents users to make live usb devices form DVD images and therefor to install a DVD image on a netbook (which by definition has no DVD or CD drive): This morning I wanted to help the users that had reported that problem in the forums (see: http://forums.opensuse.org/english/information-new-users/unreviewed-how-faq… http://forums.opensuse.org/english/get-help-here/install-boot-login/442070-… and on the wiki by telling him how to escalate that a bit so that in the future the potential users of openSUSE on a netbook do not give up just because they are not able to install a DVD image on a netbook (what would be a bit funny after making the netbook support a highlight of the new version open 11.3 and the mobile things a strategic/tactic target of openSUSE - see the new openSUSE strategy). I thought it would be an easy thing to give them the according article about bugzilla in the wiki (a "what is" including the purpose of bugzilla and may be with a little "how to use" or at least a link to a article about the detailed "how to use"). I gave "bugzilla" in the normal internal search engine of the wiki - with me been logged in and so (differing to the default settings) with the search in namespace SDB = ns102 also enabled so I would get with will (as I understood) the openSUSE-wiki's seach engine make 0) would lead to an article with name/tile "bugzilla" if such would exist (and if not go to 1) and 2) which may be equal to http://en.opensuse.org/index.php?title=Special:Search&limit=20&offset=0&ns0… ) 1) first get articles displayed with with "bugzilla" in the name/tile and 1) will be containing (without a namespace related) order 1.1) articles in the namespace main (ns0) 1.2) articles in the namespace SDB (ns100) 1.2) articles in the namespace Portal (ns102) 2) second get articles displayed with with "bugzilla" in the body/text and 2) will be containing (a namespace related) order 2.1) articles in the namespace main (ns0) 2.2) articles in the namespace SDB (ns100) 2.2) articles in the namespace Portal (ns102) According to the google-like output/display of the output of titles and text around the fitting words in the text of the search results the best fitting but last displayed article of 23 search results was: http://en.opensuse.org/BG-Submitting_Bug_Reports which sees to contain something about the topic 2) but cause of my not existing knowledge of/in that language (my guess: Bulgarian with Cyrillic letters - ISO 639-1 bg) I can understand only the links and the title of that article in English. C) The solution?: Greetings pistazienfresser -- - openSUSE profile: https://users.opensuse.org/show/pistazienfresser -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-project+unsubscribe(a)opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-project+help(a)opensuse.org

8 13

Re: Enc.: [opensuse-project] Revising the Board election rules
by Carlos Ribeiro 26 Aug '10

26 Aug '10

AJ Talking with Izabel about openSUSE next Board elections and she told me and shared a link about gnome elections rules used [1]. I got a quick look up there and what I saw makes me believe the last link [2] could help us with a different view and strategy used by gnome-foundation to the similar task. I know we are different communities with different goals but I really believe we always have some to exchange with others communities. GNOME Foundation 2010 Elections [1] http://foundation.gnome.org/elections/2010/ Elections 2010: Overview of the Board of Directors [2] http://foundation.gnome.org/elections/overview.html >>> Em 25/08/2010 às 04:27 PM, na mensagem <AANLkTi=Wwhqedt_Yc5yjG=8qenB0HgW8dWARpyK-00y4(a)mail.gmail.com>, Izabel Valverde <valverde.izabel(a)gmail.com> gravou: > Oi meu amor, > > Vê se agrega alguma coisa o exemplo da Gnome: > http://foundation.gnome.org/elections/ > > Um grande beijo! > > > 2010/8/25 Carlos Ribeiro <CRibeiro(a)komputer.com.br>: > > FYI > > > >>>> Em 25/08/2010 às 10:54 AM, na mensagem > > <201008251554.38854.aj(a)novell.com>, > > Andreas Jaeger <aj(a)novell.com> gravou: > >> Last years election of seats for the openSUSE board showed that our > > election > >> rules are not complete. So, before the elections this year start, I > > propose > >> > >> that we refine the rules and like to start with this post a > > discussion on > >> how > >> to change them. > >> > >> I see the following situations not handled: > >> > >> * Less candidates than seats for a category (Novell/non-Novell) > >> * Equal number of candidates and open seats for a category > > (Novell/non- > >> Novell) > >> * a board member resigning > >> * a board member disappearing and not engaging in the board > >> * a board member getting hired by Novell or leaves Novell > >> > >> We also need to clarify when the new board constitutes. > >> > >> We should have a light weight process that is not overly complex and > > results > >> > >> in endless votes. We vote for people that volunteer their time for > > the > >> openSUSE project and don*t get any material benefits for it. So, > > let*s keep > >> that in mind when discussing alternatives. > >> > >> Also, currently the board has five elected seats (three non-Novell > > and two > >> Novell) that get elected, so it could be that we have enough > > non-Novell > >> candidates but not enough Novell ones etc. To make this text easier, > > I will > >> not mention this everytime. > >> > >> I have a first proposal before discussing the situations: The board > > should > >> be > >> allowed to appoint people to board seats until the next board > > constitutes. > >> > >> The alternative would be to have a special election when a seat > > becomes > >> empty. > >> I fear that this just overly complicates the process. > >> > >> New rule: Appointment: In case that board seats will get appointed, > > they get > >> > >> appointed by the board. Appointed seats are only appointed until the > > next > >> election. The board can appoint also non-Novell folks on Novell > > seats and > >> vice-versa. > >> > >> I suggest also to not only have self-nominations but that people can > > > >> nominate > >> others * and the election officials will then ask the nominated > > person > >> whether > >> they stand up for election. > >> > >> New rule: Nominations: The election officials will take > > self-nominations, > >> nominations by others and can nominate people for election. The > > election > >> officials will contact the nominated people and ask them whether they > > stand > >> for election. > >> Insufficient Nominations: > >> > >> This is a sorry state since it means that not enough openSUSE members > > are > >> willing to volunteer for the board. In that case, the board should > > appoint > >> people to join the board and it can put Novell employees on > > non-Novell seats > >> > >> and vice-versa. With the next election, the seat distribution would > > be fixed > >> > >> again. > >> > >> New rule: Insufficient Nominations: If there are fewer nominees for > > elected > >> Board seats than required to fill all seats, than the board will > > appoint > >> these > >> remaining seats. > >> > >> The question remains what to do with the candidates that volunteer, > > let*s > >> handle them in the next case: > >> Equal number of candidates and seats > >> > >> One option here is to just declare the candidates as new board > > members. > >> This > >> would be the simplest process. > >> > >> In other situations, you have a vote of confidence where people give > > a > >> yes/no > >> vote for the candidates. > >> > >> One suggestion is a yes/no/abstain vote for the candidates and a > > candidate > >> needs more yes than no votes to be elected. If somebody does not get > > > >> elected, > >> the seat gets appointed (see insufficient nominations). > >> Since it could happen that one category has enough nominations but > > not the > >> other, the voting would be different for both categories and this > > makes the > >> whole process complicated. So, I suggest to change the rule to have > > just > >> more > >> than 50 per cent yes votes. > >> > >> New rule: Equal number of candidates of seats: If there is an equal > > number > >> of > >> candidates and seats, voting occurs as normal but each candidate > > needs to > >> have > >> more than 50 per cent yes votes. In case that seats do not get > > elected, the > >> board will appoint them. > >> Board member resigning > >> > >> The board should appoint somebody. > >> > >> New rule: Resigning: If a board member resigns, the board should > > appoint a > >> new > >> board member. > >> Removal of board member > >> > >> This is something that*s not covered yet as well. What happens if a > > member > >> disappears virtually? Or what if a board member goes wild? > >> > >> New rule: Removal: In the event of repeated absence without contact, > > or > >> other > >> serious misconduct or negligence, a Board member may be subject to > > removal. > >> Before any other process occurs, the Board member in question will be > > > >> personally contacted by the chairperson to try to resolve the > > situation. If > >> this contact does not successfully resolve the situation, the Board > > member > >> in > >> question may be removed by unanimous vote of the other members of the > > Board. > >> > >> The board should appoint a new board member. > >> Getting hired by Novell or leaves Novell > >> > >> The elected seats are currently either Novell employee seats or > > non-Novell > >> employee seats. Should a board member resign if he gets fired or > > hired by > >> Novell? IMO the board should stay functional, the seat was elected. > > So, > >> again let*s use a pragmatic approach: > >> > >> New rule: Change of employment: The board member will continue to > > stay > >> in the board until the end of the term and the next election the > >> distribution > >> of seats gets fixed again. > >> Constitution > >> > >> There was some confusion when the new term starts, let*s rectify > > it. > >> > >> New rule: Constitution: A new board term should start on the first of > > > >> January, > >> the elections should be finished 14 days before. In the case of > > delays, the > >> > >> new board will start 7 days after the election results are published. > > > >> Amendment > >> > >> How can we change the rules? Should the election officials be in > > charge of > >> them or the board itself? As member of the election officials for > > the 2009 > >> board election, I propose this change but I suggest that anybody can > > propose > >> > >> changes but that the board has the final say on them. > >> > >> New rule: Amendment: Changes by the election rules can be done by > > vote of > >> the > >> board where 2/3s approve including the chairperson. > >> > >> So, once there*s consensus about my changes, I propose that the > > board > >> approves > >> them as stated in the Changes of elections. > >> Conclusion > >> > >> The current openSUSE Board election rules are available in the wiki. > > > >> > >> Did I miss any case in the elections? What would you differently than > > I > >> proposed? > >> > >> Btw. I read the Fedora guidelines on Board elections and also read > > also what > >> > >> Jono Bacon wrote in *The Art of community management* on > > governance. > >> Published also via: > >> > > http://lizards.opensuse.org/2010/08/25/revising-the-board-election-rules/ > > > >> > >> Andreas > >> -- > >> Andreas Jaeger, Program Manager openSUSE, > > aj(a){novell.com,opensuse.org} > >> Twitter: jaegerandi | Identica: jaegerandi > >> SUSE LINUX Products GmbH, GF: Markus Rex, HRB 16746 (AG Nürnberg) > > > >> Maxfeldstr. 5, 90409 Nürnberg, Germany > >> GPG fingerprint = 93A3 365E CE47 B889 DF7F FED1 389A 563C C272 > > A126 > >> > > > > > -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-project+unsubscribe(a)opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-project+help(a)opensuse.org

3 2

[opensuse-project] Today's openSUSE meetings
by Michael Loeffler 25 Aug '10

25 Aug '10

Moin, a quick reminder. We'll have openSUSE project meeting in kind of 30mins from now (4pm UTC if I am correct) which is followed by the openSUSE Board Meeting 2 hours later. Both take place in the opensuse-project channel at freenode. Agenda's below [1] and [2] Looking forward meeting you there. Best M [1] http://en.opensuse.org/openSUSE:Project_meeting [2] http://en.opensuse.org/openSUSE:Board_meeting#Agenda_for_the_meeting -- Michael Löffler, Product Management SUSE LINUX Products GmbH - Nürnberg - AG Nürnberg - HRB 16746 - GF: Markus Rex -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-project+unsubscribe(a)opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-project+help(a)opensuse.org

1 0