[maemo-community] Council nomination: me again (Randall Arnold/aka Texrat)

[From: Randall Arnold]

Thanks for the opportunity to express my thoughts on some subjects
Andrew.  Responses below:


> ----- Original message -----
> From: "Andrew Flegg‎" <andrew at bleb.org>
> To: "List for community development‎" <maemo-community at maemo.org>
> Subject: Re: Council nomination: me again
> Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2010 15:23:22 +0000
>
>
>On Wed, Mar 3, 2010 at 18:48, Randall Arnold <texrat at ovi.com> wrote:
> >
> > As noted earlier, I intend to run again (see below)
>
> Thanks Randall. I've a few questions for the candidates, your answers
> would be appreciated:
>
>
> Sprint process
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> This is the main organised point of contact between Nokia, the paid
> contributors and the community, however the maemo.org sprint process
> is quite heavy for volunteers and it often seems to be a checklist
> affair; rather than a collaborative planning exercise.
>
> 1) Do you see any flaws in it, and how do you think it can be improved?

Actually I've been very impressed so far.  The main hurdle is the global
aspect of this community and stakeholders try very hard to participate.

That said, I think the process could be modified to better recognize the
global nature.  Rather than a single meeting time that benefits a select
number of timezones, I'd rather see a 24-hour sort of format.  There
would be a kick-off that draws in everyone who can participate at that
time, and then the meeting would be left open for 24 hours in order for
others to come in.  Like an IRC session, participants would come in and
out and respond to comments and update action items.  Perhaps it might
even be better to make it 48 hours.

I'm sure we could find a meeting tool that supports this, or even develop
one if not.  I would be glad to work on it.

Like Stskeeps, I would prefer a true online project management tool for
action items though rather than a simple wiki.

>
> 2) What are your thoughts on ongoing communication during the sprint?
>

It's a little spotty, and I accept responsibility for my own gaps there. 
I think if we adopt the method above it will go a long way toward
improving the communication.  Right now it feels like sprint pops up,
attracts a brief burst of activity, then fizzles until the next meeting. 
We need more of an ongoing process, and for that we need a facilitator
who owns the process.

>
> MeeGo
> ~~~~~
> MeeGo is, IMHO, the single biggest thing to happen to Maemo since the
> 770. In many ways, it's the opening up of the design processes that
> many of us have wanted in Maemo for so long. As Maemo as an operating
> system disappears, this will have a big effect on the community.
>
> 3) As we move from "day zero" to "day one", what do you think the
> priorities for the MeeGo community should be?
>

Infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure-- and more public dialog
around it.  The sooner the better.

I believe that Nokia and Intel should also jointly sponsor a 2- or 3-day
physical strategy session ASAP for community leaders on both sides.  As
in NOW.

> 4) Should leaders in the MeeGo community (whether from a Moblin or
> Maemo background) try to move the existing communities with them to
> form the MeeGo community; or should a new community form around the
> operating system and its devices?
>

Brand new start, for the following reasons:

- Psychological aspect: a new community reflects a renewed and changed
venture, and it puts Maemo and Mobiln members on equal footing.

- Practical aspect: There are numerous inactive maemo.org members and
legacy entanglements (and FUD) better left at maemo.org for future
reference only.

I hope we can all put past prejudices behind us as we build MeeGo from
the ground up.

> 4a) If yes, what steps should be taken to prevent overreactions and
> allegations of "take over" that happened when internettablettalk.com's
> theme changed to match the rest of maemo.org?
>
> 4b) If no, how do you see the relationship between the Maemo community
> which has been "left behind" and the MeeGo community? How does the
> Maemo community stay vibrant if large portions on moving on to Maemo's
> successor, or drifting away to other mobile platforms?
>

I think this is a pure perception issue and as crude as it may seem to
say, anyone who still feels that way after the facts are out may be
inclined to feel "left behind" in some capacity no matter what.  But I
think that community leaders and plan executors need to be receptive
toward concerns of abandonment and hear frustrated members out.  I have
had my own feelings like this so I can be empathetic but at the same time
I try to temper that with optimism.

> 5) What are your thoughts about existing maemo.org resources (such as
> Extras, auto-builder, Bugzilla) as Nokia, and the paid contributors,
> look to the future?
>

I think there are a great many valuable lessons learned and skills here
that can only help build a stronger future for this venture.  Nokia has
assembled a wonderful team of paid participants who in turn are supported
by a passionate crowd of active volunteers.

Specifically, I would like to see us look more and more to other best
practices.  I would like to look into replicating Nokia's Pilots Bugzilla
structure for use with our own, for instance.  I also want to see more
"hooks" built into the ecosystem for user participation and to that end I
am putting together the following proposal (input welcome):
http://maemo-daemons.org/MeeGo_User_Experience_Framework.pdf

>
> Community
> ~~~~~~~~~
>
> 6) How can we encourage more, and higher quality, applications for
> Maemo - and specifically through Extras?
>

We really need to listen to the community and wrap a more formal process
around testing.  There is no other solution.  Thankfully, that effort is
under way and kudos to people like Attila77 and VDVsx (et al) for taking
a lead here.

My user framework proposal supports this as well.

>
> Thanks for your time in answering these questions. Your answers are
> much appreciated.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Andrew
>
> --
> Andrew Flegg -- mailto:andrew at bleb.org | http://www.bleb.org/

Thank you!

Randall (Randy) Arnold
maemo.org community council
http://tabulacrypticum.wordpress.com/

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