On Wed, Jan 12, 2011 at 9:23 AM, Vincent Untz <vuntz@opensuse.org> wrote:
Hi,
I read the platforms of all candidates, and I have a few questions :-) I'd appreciate if you could take some time to answer them; it'll help me vote in an informed way.
1) You described various issues you'd like to get fixed and goals you want to achieve. Will you still work on (or help with) those tasks if you're not on the board, or do you think you really need to be on the board for some of those tasks?
My application is mainly symbolic. For most of the things I believe that can be improved, they are not achieved by the Board itself, but it is necessary that someone promotes them, and as I face the world, it should be Board taking the lead in preaching such new practices.
2) How much time per week can you secure (approximately) for the board? (I know it will be 0% of your time for some weeks, and much more for some other weeks; I'm interested in the average)
This would depend on workflow and specially on how the time is going to be given (considering the tasks). I can't say I have much to give, but I can spare some time on the weekend and during week days at night. My only drawback is mornings and wednesday/thursday nights. Away from that I do have enough time to spare.
3) Did you attend IRC board meetings already?
Not in presence, but I've readed the logs quite a few times when there are subjects that interest me.
4) It's interesting that I see nearly no note about budget/money in platforms. When (not if ;-)) we'll have the Foundation, the board will have to work on a budget. So a few questions about this...
4a) Have you experience with creating/dealing with a budget?
I have certified training for that, though it's focused on Portuguese laws (Accounting). My degree on Marketing Management also has focus on other areas like Finance Management, Accounting, Pricing strategies amongst other crazy things. No I have no experince, just theory and in most cases within the boundaries of Portuguese legislation.
4b) Where will we find money for the Foundation?
I could eventually pop some suggestions, nevertheless, it's isn't the right time.
4c) What should we use the money for?
World Domination.
5) I do think it'd be useful to have some board-related meeting at FOSDEM. That should help the newly-elected board members to know faster what's happening, and how things work. Will you come to FOSDEM? (I know some people, and that's most probably true for the non-European, will likely not be able to attend; that's not an issue)
Impossible for me.
7) Do you care more about Free Software or Open Source? Just to be clear: there's no wrong answer. But it helps understand why you contribute to projects like openSUSE.
I've always used the terminology F/OSS or FOSS which doesn't actually split them. There are differences and while OSI and FSF have different positions, I'm no politic so I really don't care. For me they serve together... I'm not really a supporter of RMS when he claims that OSI has very restrictive licences... For me.... everything is a part of an ecosystem and everyone can live together in a perfect symbiosis taking the best of each and enjoying their experience. Why I contribute? Because for a change it allowed me to contribute without having barriers and specially because I realized that I can count on the men next to me.
Questions to specific candidates, related to their platform:
Chuck: where do you think we could lead, instead of copying?
Sebas: what needs to be more transparent in openSUSE?
Kostas: do you have examples of "motives" we can give to people so they participate in the project?
Peter: leaving you some more time for your platform :-)
Henne: not really a question related to your platform, but to your experience on the board. What could be improved in the way the board works as of today? (btw, it's not a way for me to try to get the current board blamed in any way: we all know things can always get improved, and time usually helps with that) Also, can I get a dodo?
Sankar: some of your long-term tasks are partly technical (make openSUSE an attractive development platform, make the distro accessibility-friendly). How do you think the board can help with that?
Nelson: can you develop a bit more on the 'anti burnout' campaign? What would it consist of?
I believe in prevention, and this is where we can have results. If prevention fails, there's nothing we can do, as professional help will be required, I don't believe people can deny this. Stress is one of the main problems here... In the prevention field, we need to expose the risks and the symptoms. Depending on how we want this done, we can take this to another level and provide people some anti-stress exercises, which in a way would end up relying on people (and denial is one of the symptoms). So my best bet on this is actually to perform a small group session during our events for everyone.
From my experience on Fedora, I've seen psychologists and anthropologists working with the community on their areas. This is interesting, and I would love to see a greater commitment from openSUSE in promoting ourselfs on Universities. Communities like ours can be very attractive to researchers (which doesn't make of us lab rats) and can provide an outstanding interaction.
On the field... what we can do without investment: * Anti-Stress sessions on our events (mainly to demonstrate how people can relax themselfs any time), and it would be awesome if some corporations like our sponsors could take the message and promote them as well (if not already); * Keep battling on this topic so it's never forgotten; * Take this initiative to other events and preach such practices to involve all projects that have representation on openSUSE; On a more extreme case if we have funding hire a psychologist to follow the community and to work with the community or become partners with a University that works on this field (maybe a German university close to Nurnberg) which probably is where the vast majority of the community is and involve them on our events. For example, contact such University for next OSC and reserve some time for a Anti-stress community action? In fact, you could use such a thing to make a wider and broader statement to Nurnberg and invite everyone to attend it, specially the industry around us?... I think the only requirement we need is someone crazy enough to make it happen.
I wish you all the best for the election :-)
Thanks,
Vincent
PS: I don't expect votes, my application is mainly symbolic, I would be far more happier if some of the topics I pointed are picked up by the other participants and used, this would a true victory. And for those I've raised I can for sure help without needing a board seat. I just felt this was a good opportunity to preach a bit more and to bring new blood into the scene.
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