Richard: So wrong. Even in disagreement, it's typically expected that board members present a unified front. (If they haven't, it is a matter for the board to deal with, by the way). Publicising dissent can undermine the collective authority of the board - and encouraging board members for personal opinions is not productive. Preserving the effectiveness of the board is paramount, and I suggest you make a formal complaint so that we can deal with it, as a board, at the next meeting, but not live and real time. Thanks - Patrick -----Original message----- From: Richard Brown <rbrown@suse.de> Sent: Tuesday 16th April 2024 11:55 To: project@lists.opensuse.org Subject: Re: On the efficacy of the openSUSE Board On 2024-04-16 11:49, Douglas DeMaio wrote:

...

Absolutely nothing has been heard from Douglas (besides wishing Gertjan well) or Patrick.

The most generous assessment of their involvement in the Board is that they are currently empty chairs. If I was to speculate, based on Gertjan's decision to resign, it would be reasonable to assume that they lean more towards the Simon-side of the debate, making Gertjan's position for strong moderation clearly untenable as a minority opinion.

Then don't start a thread based on speculation and resort to belittlement and name calling. I shared my views with those I felt needed to hear it.

The fact you didn't think the community needed to hear your views underlines my greater concern. If the Board isn't operating as a cohesive group (and currently it is not) then the community deserves, and requires, to always hear your views as an individual. As I clearly state, I believe the better operating model would be one where the Board works as group, makes tough decisions, and supports them without every decision becoming a melee where individual Board members repeatedly undermine and muddy the waters of what the group decided. But in the absence of that, currently, I think your silence is inexcusable. Speculation is the only option we voting members have as a result.