On 10 February 2018 at 20:46, Ana Martínez <anamma06@gmail.com> wrote:
* Any openSUSE contributor can apply to be a Member * The threshold for Membership will be reduced from "sustained and substantial contribution" to "a contribution and a desire to be a Member" (ie. not every contributor should feel compelled to engage with the Project in this way).
Doesn't applying already mean that someone has the desire to become a member?
Yes, but it was only implied in the previous system. I like having it as an explicit statement in the new model - it not only encourages the 'right' mindset, but I hope also discorages the trap I think we sometimes have in the current system that can lead to the mindset that an openSUSE Member is somehow "more" of a contributor than an non-member. Membership should just be yet-another form of contribution to the project. An important one, but we shouldn't be building silly little hierarchies that will just get in our way long term.
Does that also mean that the time for an application to be accepted will be decreased? It takes tooo long now.
You bet it should be quicker :)
Who are the members of the Membership committee and how is it elected?
https://en.opensuse.org/openSUSE:Membership_officials
This will mean that if a member doesn't contribute at all in 10 years, but he answers to the bot, he will keep being a member, right? This doesn't much really well with "those that do, decide", but more with "those that did in the past, still decide". I personally think that it someone didn't contribute at all for a long time, he is also not interested any more, even if he answer to a bot.
I see both sides of that argument - and we've had that in the Project before. The consensus last time this was discussed was that it was better to give old members the opportunity to still influence the project. I still support that view based on the outcome of the projects previous discussions. I personally have no opinion either way, and I suspect the rest of the Board avoided re-opening the topic during our internal discussions for similar reasons.
Won't this leed to the same problem? I mean to reach the 20% threshold, or is it going to be removed?
There's a difference between now & this proposal and the old-model where we we had no activity check In the old-model., no-longer-contributing--members hung around without any activity and no notifications. This therefore diluted the 20% threshold with zero benefit to the project. Both the current & proposed models ensure old members will have to at least express an interest in continuing as members. My expectation is that in this case they'd still be engaged enough to contribute meaningfully in board elections and in any dispute where the threshold was a factor. We've got to strike a balance between being very open to new blood and not dismissive of the old blood which got us where we are, but can't contribute to the Project on the same level because factors like family life, careers, and such have a habit of getting in the way after a while ;) -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-project+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, email: opensuse-project+owner@opensuse.org