houghi wrote:
[...] A developer works for the community and should be aware what that community is talking about.
The GNOME developers mentioned in this thread are employed by Novell which means they work for Novell and not for the community. I think, Novell decides about the projects for those developers and what they are allowed to do and develop. If Novell is a good employer, then those developers can make proposals for reasonable projects, or they even have the right to make decisions on their own within their assigned area of responsibility. Of course, they should receive some feedback from the users and the community (a programmer/developer always needs some feedback!), but Novell (the employer) is still the top priority. And the developers have to account for their work. Cheers, Th.