On 2018-08-25 13:01, Richard Brown wrote:
Correct. That's how every election -- in every industry/government across the globe -- works. If someone doesn't want to "come in second" they don't run for office.
Even popular people lose. Just how it works. That's life.
But the Board is not 'running for office' in a sense that can be considered analogous to any industry or government.
openSUSE Board Members are not empowered to create laws or sign orders which others are duty bound to follow
Especially when you consider our primary role being one of dispute resolution and judgement, we have more in common with Jurors than company Board Members or Elected politicans
This is incorrect. The openSUSE Board also makes budgetary decisions, endorsement decisions (and policies / plans), coordination with other organizations (and individuals), event planning, and even decisions of who will (or won't) be allowed to be members of openSUSE (or utilize openSUSE resources). The "jury" comparison you make is absolutely accurate... for a very small portion of what the openSUSE Board does.
I'm getting some mixed signals here, my friend. :)
Just a few days ago you chastised others for being public about Board decisions:
"Replying a little seriously, and to justify my vote publicly (which is something I shouldn't have to do, given the Board's rule that decisions made collectively are defended collectively, but someone seems to have forgotten that... :-/ )" - Richard Brown, Tuesday
And you are either acting intentionally obtuse or don't notice the huge monumental difference between a situation where Board members are required to stand up publicly as individuals and justify their decision in public, and a situation where the Board collectively owns both the decision "we as a group feel X" and the dissent "but a number in our group also felt Y"
I'll just move past the out-of-left-field personal attacks...
The Board have been elected to a position where they are the final arbiters of any decision that gets to their desk. If an issue gets to their desk it can be argued that it only does so because no other contributor was willing or able to make the decisions via our usual (very public) means.
Somewhat correct. This sort of process is not entirely unlike many forms of government (such as in the USA) where the higher levels handle the items that the lower levels either haven't, or chose not to tackle themselves (City/County/State/Federal). That said, the openSUSE Board also tackles items that do not first come in front of the broader openSUSE membership. Sometimes yes. Sometimes no. Either way, this is fine (as the Board is elected to handle such things)... but it is entirely not like Juries in any real way.
I think it is therefore highly important that those decisions which are trusted to the Board, are conducted in a way that empowers each Board member to act on their conscious, without fear of public reprisals after the fact.
I get it. Your position is that a person in an elected position should be able to carry out their duties in secret -- and people who voted for them have no right to know how they vote or what their options are. That's weird to me. I see your point, I simply disagree with it on a very core level.
If the Project wishes to fundamentally change the role and purpose of the Board then I'd be willing to see that go to a Membership vote.
Yes. I think this would be good. Simply make the votes public. That's all. Every vote taken by the openSUSE Board -- on *every* issue -- should be made public. That way, when the next election occurs, the openSUSE membership can make an informed decision on who to elect (or re-elect) to best represent us.
But the absolute transparency you seem to advocate for, would not get my vote - if such an idea is popular, I would suggest the Board as we know it would be pointless - we might as well have anyone and everyone making every decision in public.
That's ok. I respect your thoughts here. I believe you would be out-voted by the membership by a rather wide margin. Anyone else want the votes of Board members to be public? Having a simple vote on this would seem to me to be an easy way to settle this (without the whole name-calling thing). -Bryan Lunduke -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-project+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, email: opensuse-project+owner@opensuse.org