On Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:04:31 +0100, Marco Michna wrote:
Greetings,
some might have noticed that I'm quite pissed about this topic! Don't you have better things on your todo lists? E.g. how do we get more members? Shame on you to have such a topic at all!
Sorry, but it's actually an important topic. I went through this when I was tasked several years ago with managing an instructor program for a software company. The number of inactive members of the program was detracting from the value of the program for those who were active, so we decided to institute an expiration policy that had a very simple way to get back into the program. So for my part, I'm speaking from direct experience about increasing the value to the active part of the membership of a program or group.
I propose the following guideline: On even years of membership anniversary (that would be year 2, 4, 6...) a member gets an automated e-mail.
Automated mails will end up in a spam folder an will be ignored!
This more or less demonstrates *why* membership needs to have a perceived value. If there isn't a perceived value, then the member has no incentive to take steps to ensure they remain a member. Which also feeds into people feeling (a) that voting for the board is an important responsibility of membership, and (b) that there is a reason to become a member and to support the project's guiding principles in a concrete way.
If the e-mail bounces and there is no other means to contact the person than the person is removed as a member.
So ... if there is a problem with the users host then you don't care and revoke!
Again, that's a problem that ties back to perceived value. If the member perceives value in the membership, then they'll make sure they're contactable and their contact information is up to date. It sounds like you want the status, but why? What value do YOU see in membership? And why is that value insufficient for you to make sure your contact information is current?
Let me quote the "examples" for becoming a member:
--8<-- Contributions include (but are not limited to) the following:
Code and packaging Wiki editing Bug reporting and triaging Translation Continued user support on any communication medium Giving openSUSE Talks/Presentation and/or promoting openSUSE Help openSUSE as an Ambassador -->8--
And this is only the "example"!
IMHO this also includes: wearing openSUSE merchandise (payed with hard money) and convincing other people to use openSUSE! How the hell do you want to check this? Do I have to send you pictures of me every day?
Those activities contribute to community growth, certainly - being in the community doesn't necessarily translate to being a member involved in shaping the distribution and the project. OSS is and always has been about merit (it is a meritocracy). If I wanted to contribute to the Linux kernel, I have to prove that I know what I'm doing by submitting patches. I don't just automatically get an equal voice to what someone like Greg K-H has when it comes to kernel enhancements. The same is true for the openSUSE project. One has to earn their voice through contributions. One isn't *granted* a voice in project decisions because they *use* the distribution. They have to start with something small - reporting problems, using pre-release versions and submitting bugs, etc. *Nobody* starts at the top in a meritocracy. Project membership is a step on the meritocracy ladder, and the project leadership absolutely has the authority and ability to decide what constitutes a valuable contribution. They've earned it. That's also why voting for the board is important. While that's not *entirely* merit-based, those who achieve the most credibility in the community may not want that responsibility for a variety of reasons.
And what about all my contacts which only know my opensuse mail address? Ever thought about that? My so nicely offered help and support via this mail would end up in a mail: "No such user"! This may create a very bad reputation for opensuse!
If you use your opensuse.org e-mail address, then chances are you're contactable. Problem solved.
Having only members that are active also bestows more meaning on board election results and other votes we might have in the project. This goes back to my earlier comment and leads to a question, what does it mean when the board gets elected with a vote count that is less than 50% of the membership? (I am not implying that I am dissatisfied with the board). No direct answer to this question please. If we have only active project participants I would speculate that we will get participation of 80% or more.
Your speculation is wrong. You still didn't ask why some of us didn't participate in some of the votings. What if I'm not happy with any of the candidates? Where was/is the option to tell that we/I do not wan't to participate because of a given reason?
Valid point, and maybe something you should bring up to the election committee for the next election. But that you have something that I consider a valid point to be raised doesn't mean the election is or should be invalidated. You (presumably) saw the same e-mails everyone else did about the election committee and had the opportunity to raise that issue (or volunteer for the committee if you had the time - perhaps you didn't, though, I don't know) so it could be dealt with rather than coming in after the fact and criticizing what was done. (And perhaps you did raise the issue and I didn't see it - after all, I'm also a busy guy, and I don't read every message on all the lists)
Last but not least this should create a perceived draw to become a member, as you can only be a member and remain a member if you contribute to the project.
No - definitely not! Why should I become a member of such a exclusive club if they can revoke my membership for any reason.
You should become a member because you perceive value in membership. If you don't perceive value in membership, then please leave membership for those of us who *do* value it and either think it has meaning or would like to see it have an increased value. It would be far better rather than just being pissed off that the discussion was raised if you contributed something to the solution. IMHO, that also plays into the 'merit' discussion - pissy rants have little merit. Contributing something (even if it's constructive negative criticism that can be used to improve things to some degree) rates more merit. Jim -- Jim Henderson Please keep on-topic replies on the list so everyone benefits -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-project+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, email: opensuse-project+owner@opensuse.org