Shawn Walker wrote:
> ... the proposed Distribution Community Group ...
I am concerned that the (private-to-the-OGB) discussions
with Sun Re: OS.o may impact this area, but since I have
no real first hand knowledge, it is just a concern and not
an objection....
Having said that, I think there is a larger proposal hiding
here. I am beginning to believe that we need to refactor the
community at large and redo the constitution in significant
ways:
[This stuff is still churning in my brain - consider these
following items to be brainstorming ideas and not final
proposals or opinions - I am interested in your collective
thoughts, and expect this all to evolve significantly before
it gets to an actionable form]
The current OS.o community isn't working as envisioned,
somewhat due to the mismatched needs and perspectives that
are being forced into an one-size-fits-all governance
process, and somewhat due to an expectation mismatch
between the various players.
Keith's email about "consix" helped clarify some of my
thoughts, though to be fair, they were there before his
email went out - they are all my own fault, this time :-)
I agree with his key point, though: the idea that the
current "kernel.org" perspective isn't really compatible
ideologically with the "Distro-focused Indiana" one.
The rest of this email is an attempt to figure out what
a "new world" might look like.
Since the various different perspectives of "what *is*
OpenSolaris" are core to today's conflicts, we should
consider breaking up the the current OS.o mega-community
and website into 4 somewhat independent areas. What
follows is a first stab at articulating those areas:
A New User download and try it portal/group,
devoted to meeting the needs of the "I just heard
about OpenSolaris and I want to learn more, and to
possibly try it out" crowd. This is probably
an area where the current Advocacy CG would take
a leadership position. It is extremely likely
that Sun's Indiana-based distro would be the
focus here.
An OpenSolaris Customization portal/group, focused
on add-on software, themes, wallpaper, alternative
distros and the like. There is no equivalent OS.o
CG in this area today, but think Blastwave,
SunFreeware, apt, SFW, alternative distros, ...
An OpenSolaris Distro portal/group, focused on
producing and delivering alternative distros
that the Customization and New User groups can
consume. Shawn's CG, the Indiana team, even
independent distros like Nexenta, Schillix and
Sun's SX/SXDE should all be able to find a
welcoming home here. Hopefully, the various
best practices and tools that are developed
here would flow down into the Consolidations
group, below, for potential incorporation into
the foundations of the system.
An OpenSolaris Consolidations portal/group, where
the developers of the ON, X, GNOME, ..., ...
consolidations do their development work. The
output of this group goes into various repositories
that are "harvested" by the various distros
above...
Only the latter really needs the complexities of the OGB,
the constitution, and the whathaveyou that Sun brings to
the conversation. The rest should be able to get by as
simple, independent, lightweight open communities that
self-govern themselves however they see fit (for example,
each would be a good fit as a CG in todays OS.o world).
Thoughts?
-John
