This is one of the most interesting discussions held here in a long
time.
Preface to remarks:
1. Genesi financially sponsors Blastwave (/Blastware, etc.).
2. Genesi will continue to provide hardware to Developers interested
in supporting the Polaris effort. This has included and will
continue to include Sun employees.
3. All involved understand that Blastwave would not exist without the
management and commitment of Dennis Clarke. Having said that,
without the contribution of others, including many people from Sun -
not to mention the code itself - Blastwave would not exist.
Remarks:
We start with a question: how many distributions of GNU/Linux are there?
=>The generative processes of open source software development is not
something that we want to try to control once code has been
released. Solaris was created and will continue to be developed by
Sun. Once a _release_ has been made it is time to let the code go
where it will to satisfy the interest and effort it inspires.
=>If Sun wants to engage beyond the release to support or channel
what happens next they are certainly free to do so. Clearly,
involvement in the post-release world will invite curiosity from the
*Open*Solaris Community. It is completely expected that any Sun-
sponsored effort seen to duplicate an existing Community effort will
be questioned and this can generate frustration from those affected,
but there can be and there should not be anything other than a
sensitivity to this concern (of those feeling threatened) that stops
Sun (or Sun Engineers) from doing anything. Involvement in the post-
release world however places Sun and its employees (on their own time
or not) on equal footing with the rest of the Community. Sun might
want to gain more sensitivity to the issues involved.
We see a necessary and foundational value statement for Sun. We
think Sun's focus should be on giving:
1. Developers a “direct line” to Sun - engagement in Forums. Example:
http://www.power.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=84
2. Support and help to build an Infrastucture (as Blastwave has built
and Sun engineers have contributed - thanks to Craig Steinberger in
particular)
3. Sponsor Developer related Events (User Groups, etc)
4. Be seen generally as helping to build the community by providing
access to information and experts
The objective should be to help the community to help themselves.
Traction is gained in "developer corners," forums, etc. and through
content: code, documentation, and education events through Webinars
and Podcasts. This is best done with the existing community and
creating splinters in the existing community is not how Sun wants to
be perceived - BUT again this is an opinion not a requirement.
This whole topic should be on the top of the "New Business" list for
the next CAB meeting. The CAB should formulate some recommendations
to Sun and some convention should be established. The same process
that created the thoughtful and successful CDDL should be employed on
this issue. Through the framework established we should be focused
to extend what *is* working further. This discussion illuminates the
issues. It is now the responsibility of the CAB to pick this matter
up and formulate a recommendation to Sun how it best can proceed in
this domain moving ahead. We hope this post contributes to that
process.
Sincerely,
R&B_______________________________________________
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