houghi wrote: > [...] > > They are employees, not slaves. So if they follow the community that they > make the software for is just a logical step. Wether or not they are > allowed to do what that community wants is another matter. > > But then again they might be more interested in following a specific GNOME > list.
Well, nobody was talking about slaves. However, the developers are employed by Novell, a commercial company which wants to make some money. >From my point of view, it's a bit naive to think that Novell does all of that (openSUSE project, build service, etc.) just because Novell wants to act as a benefactor. No, all of that is part of a strategy, and at the end of the day the hope is that it strengthens Novell's Linux sector and allows them to make more profit. Linux has become big business, it's no longer an OS developed by some freaks from universities and used by only a couple of hackers and freaks all over the world (well, maybe still a sort of freaks ;-)). Or do you think Novell bought SUSE just for fun? Although we have now openSUSE, we should not forget about all of that. The developers employed by Novell serve primarily the company, and the community comes second. I would be surprised if it works in a different way at Novell (I am working in an R&D department of a commercial company, so I know a bit about all of that). Novell has created an 'interface' to the community and this is the core team at SUSE - people who participate on this and other lists, answer our questions etc., and try to establish relationships to the community. I think that's the way to go (well, maybe Novell should expand the 'interface' a bit - it seems as if too much work needs to be done by only a few core people). However, not every developer should be part of this process - that's not necessary as the core team and, I guess, the support team provide sufficient internal feedback for the developers (at least I hope so ;-)). It would just be too time-consuming for them to try keeping an eye on all community issues (I think, Adam Tauno Williams was absolutely right in this point), that's in principle the focus of the 'interface' (core team). At the end of the day, all the major strategic decisions will be made by the management anyway. So the real question is whether the management (the decision maker) knows about the notions of the community. Greetings from London, Th. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
