[maemo-community] My Perception of the Maemo/MeeGo Community

[From: Randall Arnold]

Michael,

I'm always willing to listen to feedback, even the harsh, negative type, but it's hard to process when it doesn't reflect reality.

The traits you ascribe to the whole are really limited to a tiny few, and do not fit the community.  There is no pervasive "self-entitled, elitist attitude".  Not even close.  There is much, much more of a "can-do, volunteer, what-can-I-do-for-myself-and-the-community" attitude.  That should be appreciated by anyone who benefits.


The fact that you include the Maemo council in this flawed assessment speaks volumes.  There has indeed been the occasional representative that, in my opinion, reflects those traits, but not the majority.  Most of those who have stood worked long, frustrating hours to act as advocates for Maemo.  What you may see now is just increased anxiety and frustration at Maemo reaching an apparent end-of-life with many issues left unresolved.  A disappointment that we could not completely liberate Maemo.  But don't for one second think we believe ourselves to be "self-entitled" or act "elitist".  Nothing could be further from the truth.

As for MeeGo, don't blame the volunteer community for issues.  You need to separate volunteers from paid participants.  You and I might find some agreement once you do so.


At least you acknowledge that your allegations are subjective.  Could it be that your approach and mindset might play a part in how your questions and comments are perceived?  If you honestly think that your negative assessment affects the whole (which completely flies in the face of not just reality but probability itself) then I daresay you may well be injecting much of it.

It's unfortunate you felt led to insult the community at large for actions of an unrepresentative few.  That works against solving any problems you perceive.  I urge you to rethink your approach and conclusions.  Broad accusations hurt more than help.

Sincerely,

 
Randall (Randy) Arnold aka "Texrat"
MeeGo Community Office: Device Program
http://texrat.net


>________________________________
>From: Michael Cronenworth <mike at cchtml.com>
>To: maemo-community at maemo.org
>Sent: Saturday, August 13, 2011 2:08 PM
>Subject: My Perception of the Maemo/MeeGo Community
>
>Foreword:
>This is a very long, blog-like message. Thanks to those who read through it. I am posting here instead of my personal blog as I want to create a discussion instead of a reaction.
>
>I feel I should explain my thoughts of the Maemo/MeeGo community from the perspective of a US resident. I realize my opinions are mine and mine alone. I welcome any response, particularly those who live in the US. My perception of the Maemo/MeeGo community is that those directly involved (Nokia employees, Maemo council members, Maemo workers) have a self-entitled, elitist attitude. I cannot recount any time I have had a warm, fuzzy feeling from discussions that I have been associated with or not. Yes, the preceding is a general, subjective comment. Let me break it down:
>
>First and foremost I wish to comment on the interactions I've had on the mailing lists. The few times I communicate with Maemo/MeeGo folks it comes across as hostile. This may be from a native English speaker talking to non-native speakers. A few examples:
>-Posting "wrong list" comments on e-mails who's topics are half-way between the two Maemo lists. Get over yourself. These lists are so low volume these kinds of comments are off-topic and are inflammatory.
>-Knowing your job title. I don't know the title or position you hold by just your name, nor should you expect me to. Telling someone "well Bob Smith told you X, you should believe him". Why? One time in the past I was given a "Who are you?" type of response, which is obviously very condescending. The Maemo/MeeGo community is very small and unknown. Consider the fact that outsiders have no idea who you are.
>
>The general US resident does not purchase a phone that is not sold at a wireless phone carrier's store. I feel I can speak with certainty that a super majority of the cell phone owning, US population does not buy a phone on their own. My friends, co-workers, and family have all purchased phones from their carrier. I do not personally know of anyone besides myself that has purchased the phone directly from the manufacturer.
>
>Why is the paragraph above important?
>Maemo/MeeGo devices are not sold by US carriers. They will only be in the hands of a few thousand US residents compared to the millions of Android or iOS devices. My friends, co-workers, and family will never own a Maemo/MeeGo device so I can never write an app for them or share my experiences with them.
>
>I feel any time or effort put into a Maemo/MeeGo device would be wasteful. After working on a few projects I felt any further time programming for Maemo/MeeGo would be wasted. I stopped working on a karaoke app because of it. I do not see any large following internationally either. This mailing list (including maemo-developer) has fallen completely silent. I wasn't motivated enough to ask for a N950 to develop on after seeing the responses to the announcement of the N9 by US-based news/blog sites, which were mostly negative.
>
>Why have I made this e-mail?
>I wanted to have a true Linux phone (kernel + userspace) and Maemo/MeeGo seemed like the answer to my prayers. I have no certainty of Nokia's investing in marketing or even shipping a device to the US. I feel my only move is to reluctantly transition to the Android platform. Does anyone else share my sentiment or do you have a different perception?
>
>Before anyone pulls out the Angry Birds card they should know that it does not apply to me. I do not wish to make a cross-phone app. Angry Birds was only successful when it moved *from* Maemo *to* Android/iOS/BB devices. Maemo/MeeGo does not even promote cross-phone development. Using Qt on a phone platform will soon die with MeeGo since Symbian is dead and WP7, even if it provides a Qt runtime, is a completely uninteresting platform to me.
>
>Footnote:
>Who am I? I'm just your typical, ignorant American. I work in the health care industry as a software programmer and maintain packages in the Fedora distribution in my spare time.
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>
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>
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