No worries. This is a good debate to be having. Thanks for prompting me to lay things out how I see them! Glad to have you on board, Jonathan! Welcome to the CouchDB party! :P
On Tue, Apr 17, 2012 at 12:33 AM, Jonathan Porta <rurd...@gmail.com> wrote: > Having worked on projects that were decided by a committee, I agree. I > think I suggested that due to the fact that I am not a contributor and that > I have only been using CouchDB for a few months and am not fully sure yet > how things are decided within the community. Please excuse my ignorance on > this one. > > Jonathan Porta > > > On Mon, Apr 16, 2012 at 5:07 PM, Noah Slater <nsla...@tumbolia.org> wrote: > > > Some comments. > > > > "I wish it could have been discussed before too." > > > > Sorry to jump on you here Benoît, but this is not the way CouchDB works. > > > > And every time I see this unhealthy attitude raise its ugly head, I am > > going to stamp on it. > > > > CouchDB operates a culture of trust. We trust that community members are > > going to act in the interests of the project. Whatever you want to do, > just > > have at it. It is easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to get > > permission. > > > > The only rule to that is: don't be a berk! > > > > This permission culture that we seem to have fostered in recent years is > a > > blight on the project, and it is my hope that we can use recent events to > > shake it off. But we need to start by stamping it out where ever we see > it. > > Setting an example. > > > > The website was not discussed prior to the launch, because I can tell you > > right now, with my hand on my heart, it would never have seen the light > of > > day. We'd still be sat here, with a 5 year old site, moaning about it. > > Because everyone thinks they know how to design, and everyone has an > > opinion, and the thing would've been debated until it was killed. > > > > You can imagine how much I flinched when I read this: "Does anyone think > it > > would be a good idea to list the proposed changes/issues to/with the site > > and then have the community vote on them?" > > > > Not picking on you here Jonathan, but it's a good example of what I am > > talking about. > > > > Voting on the design of the site is probably THE worst idea possible. > > > > If we want a site that looks good, then we need to entrust a single > > individual (preferably with a good eye for design, and modern design > > skills) to own the site, and to take responsibility for any changes. That > > is the only way we will avoid the dreaded design by committee, and it is > > the only way we will be able to sensibly evolve our brand. > > > > So, I am asking people now. Please do not touch the design of the site > > unless you are prepared to take ownership of the design of the site. And > I > > mean complete ownership. If you want to mess with the design, please be > > prepared to take further requests. This is not to discourage you. In > fact, > > quite the opposite. If someone wants to do this, I would be overjoyed! > But > > we need someone who is committed, and who can use their single, unified > > vision to guide us in the right direction. > > > > Are you a designer? > > > > Do you think you could help to maintain our one page static HTML website? > > > > Please get in touch. We need your help! > > > > In the mean time chaps, I have created a wiki page to collect our ideas. > > > > http://wiki.apache.org/couchdb/Website_Design > > >
