Re: Question to all candidates: registering Debian as an organization
Hi, > What is your position on registering Debian as an organization? Positive (currently). > I'm curious as to (1) what you think of the idea in general, and (2) > insofar you think this is a good idea, to what extent you'd consider > pursuing it during your term(s). Reading Jonathan's platform, I think eliminating "difficulties in setting up agreements with external entities" should be done. However, for pushing forward, I (and perhaps others) want to know pros/cons list. And I would form a special team for it, and delegate (Jonathan may take it, since it should be done by a person who is passionate :) -- Hideki Yamane
Re: Question to all candidates: Ongoing/future legal projects
Hi, On Thu, 17 Mar 2022 10:57:59 -0400 Molly dB wrote: > In November 2021, it was discussed in debian-private that a team from > Debian had been working with a lawyer for a while. (Not sharing > details: issues remain ongoing.) How would you transition into taking > on this particular responsibility and similar longer running issues > should they arise in the future? I want to clarify your question a bit: You mean the term limit causes the problem to deal with such long term issue? And what is the current problem? If it would be lack of knowledge/info/skill to new team, adding trainee to your team may help (as I said in my platform as "式年遷宮"). -- Hideki Yamane
Re: Question to all candidates: how is Debian doing?
Hi Lucas, On Thu, Mar 17, 2022 at 12:52 PM Lucas Nussbaum wrote: > > Interesting. What would be the composition, roles, duties of that > Strategy Council ? Like all committees and boards I envision, the Strategy Council should have at least five but no more than twelve members. I personally like nine, if you can get that many volunteers. The council should set out to devise and keep updated solutions to all problems that (1) require more than three years of planning; (2) will not arise for another three years but some time thereafter; or (3) are otherwise critical for Debian's survival as a project. The council is encouraged to modify that list. Given your past service as project leader, I would be honored to appoint you as the first member (pending confirmation by the Appointments Committee). At the initial meeting, the council would elect a Chair and a Vice Chair, and also decide on its procedures. For example, you could form a subcommittee to develop bylaws, which could be as simple as: 1. The council has five seats, each to be held by an appointed member. 2. No action shall be taken nor any discussion take place unless at least half the seats are filled. 3. We will meet monthly. My only other requirement is that you try to follow California's open meeting laws [1] which, for starters, mean: (a) the meetings are open to the public; (b) you post an itemized agenda at least 72 hours before each meeting; and (c) you allow limited public comment (such as three minutes each for fewer than ten speakers, two minutes each for fewer than twenty speakers, and one minute each for thirty or more speakers). Finally and most important (d) members are prohibited from discussing council business with each other outside of meetings. That requirement exists so that interested people from the public may follow your deliberations. In lieu of written minutes, it may be best to record the meetings. It would also be nice if you could publish an annual top ten list of issues (potentially a single page) for the benefit of other project members. Thank you for your interest in the Strategy Council! Kind regards Felix Lechner P.S. Everyone, please join #meetfelix on OFTC. I hope to get to know you better! [1] https://www.calcities.org/detail-pages/resource/open-public-v-a-guide-to-the-ralph-m.-brown-act
Re: Question to all candidates: how is Debian doing?
Thanks for you answers On 17/03/22 at 09:50 -0700, Felix Lechner wrote: > If elected, I hope to form a Strategy Council that will re-evaluate as > well as expand on those answers, and have solutions ready at all > times. Interesting. What would be the composition, roles, duties of that Strategy Council ? Lucas
Re: Question to all candidates: Ongoing/future legal projects
Hi Molly, On Thu, Mar 17, 2022 at 10:49 AM Molly dB wrote: > > If you feel like it's appropriate, I'd appreciate hearing more details > on debian-private. Since Jonathan wrote that advances are imminent, I unfortunately do not think it's appropriate for us to discuss it any further, in any forum. Together with everyone else, however, you would be the first to learn more about my approach if I get elected and there is anything left to do. Thank you! Kind regards, Felix Lechner
Re: Question to all candidates: Ongoing/future legal projects
Hi Felix (and others), If you feel like it's appropriate, I'd appreciate hearing more details on debian-private. Cheers, Molly On Thu, 2022-03-17 at 09:16 -0700, Felix Lechner wrote: > Hi Molly, > > On Thu, Mar 17, 2022 at 8:15 AM Molly dB wrote: > > > > In November 2021, it was discussed in debian-private that a team > > from > > Debian had been working with a lawyer for a while. (Not sharing > > details: issues remain ongoing.) How would you transition into > > taking > > on this particular responsibility and similar longer running issues > > should they arise in the future? > > I do not think anyone can answer topics from -private on this public > mailing list without breaching project rules, but I'll try to > alleviate your concern in a general way. > > After graduating from Harvard, I left engineering and entered a > career > in commercial real estate, where I remain licensed. For twenty years, > I have helped clients achieve their objectives. While I have no legal > training, an average transaction requires me to read between 100 and > 6,000 pages of newly drafted and existing documents. (My total > transaction volume is about $2.5 billion to date.) I am good with > foreseeing conflict and proposing solutions to parties who have > opposing interests. In short, I negotiate for a living. > > Compromise is my life. > > As for the situation from November 2021, I have a plan that I believe > will work. If elected, I will not hesitate to implement it. For > future > challenges, I'd have to see what they are. > > Thank you for your question! > > Kind regards, > Felix Lechner >
Re: Question to all candidates: registering Debian as an organization
Hi Christian, On Thu, Mar 17, 2022 at 9:48 AM Christian Kastner wrote: > > What is your position on registering Debian as an organization? > > I'm curious as to (1) what you think of the idea in general, and (2) > insofar you think this is a good idea, to what extent you'd consider > pursuing it during your term(s). >From what I have seen, Debian's governance is presently insufficient to support any kind of incorporation. At least on the trademark side, we cannot currently match the professional support we receive from Software in the Public Interest, Inc., which includes timely legal filings around the world. That being said, I believe Debian should stand on its own. I am ready to put Debian on a short path to incorporation. It is one of many reasons why I'd like to see a broadly democratic system of boards and commissions blossom, as quickly as possible, into a reliable, accountable, transparent and elected governing council that can handle funds and other project assets on behalf of our membership. I'll start on day one by forming a Disbursements Committee that will transparently handle all financial matters that come before me as project leader. The committee will operate according to California's open meeting laws. [1] The position of Incorporation Manager is open. Interested parties shall please apply. The day we shake loose will be memorialized as our "Independence Day." Thank you for your question of broad public interest! Kind regards, Felix Lechner [1] https://www.calcities.org/detail-pages/resource/open-public-v-a-guide-to-the-ralph-m.-brown-act P.S. Everyone, please join #meetfelix on OFTC. I hope to get to know you better!
Re: Question to all candidates: Ongoing/future legal projects
Hi Molly On 2022/03/17 16:57, Molly dB wrote: In November 2021, it was discussed in debian-private that a team from Debian had been working with a lawyer for a while. (Not sharing details: issues remain ongoing.) How would you transition into taking on this particular responsibility and similar longer running issues should they arise in the future. One of the reasons that a small team was put together was so that I wouldn't become the single point of failure on that project (for lack of better word). Also, it turned out that the legal work around it was much hairier and involved than I had previously anticipated (I has hoping we could just give a lawyer a lot of money and they could deal with it, hah!). So, going forward, the other people working on that team would likely still be available, and there's a git repository that contains a lot of evidence complete with a timeline that links to all the individual bits, and I'm willing to stay on the team at least until the incoming DPL (assuming it's not me) is comfortable enough for me to move on from there. Having said that, we've been making some large strides and we are likely to hit a significant milestone even before the DPL elections start, so hopefully by the time the elections are done there won't be too much work left on that. So in this case I think a transition won't be a particular problem, and I think for future long-running projects a bit of planning and documentation always helps. -Jonathan
Re: Question to all candidates: how is Debian doing?
Hi Lucas, On Thu, Mar 17, 2022 at 8:55 AM Lucas Nussbaum wrote: > > How is Debian doing currently? We do what we have always done, but the world is changing around us. > What are the recent successes I might have missed? We are quirky, but very much alive! > Where did we fail or under-perform? We are falling behind other distributions and programming environments that embrace change and have corporate funding. > Which big challenges do you see ahead of us? Users may stop caring about Debian and pick one of many alternatives. > Are there opportunities that we could leverage? We need to motivate our contributors, who are our greatest assets, and attract many new ones to do great things together! If elected, I hope to form a Strategy Council that will re-evaluate as well as expand on those answers, and have solutions ready at all times. Thank you for asking such precious questions! Kind regards, Felix Lechner P.S. Everyone, please join #meetfelix on OFTC. I hope to get to know you better!
Question to all candidates: registering Debian as an organization
Jonathan has already addressed this in his platform, acknowledging Brian Gupta's 2020 campaign focus on this, so this is mostly a question for Hideki and Felix: What is your position on registering Debian as an organization? I'm curious as to (1) what you think of the idea in general, and (2) insofar you think this is a good idea, to what extent you'd consider pursuing it during your term(s).
Re: Question to all candidates: Ongoing/future legal projects
Hi Molly, On Thu, Mar 17, 2022 at 8:15 AM Molly dB wrote: > > In November 2021, it was discussed in debian-private that a team from > Debian had been working with a lawyer for a while. (Not sharing > details: issues remain ongoing.) How would you transition into taking > on this particular responsibility and similar longer running issues > should they arise in the future? I do not think anyone can answer topics from -private on this public mailing list without breaching project rules, but I'll try to alleviate your concern in a general way. After graduating from Harvard, I left engineering and entered a career in commercial real estate, where I remain licensed. For twenty years, I have helped clients achieve their objectives. While I have no legal training, an average transaction requires me to read between 100 and 6,000 pages of newly drafted and existing documents. (My total transaction volume is about $2.5 billion to date.) I am good with foreseeing conflict and proposing solutions to parties who have opposing interests. In short, I negotiate for a living. Compromise is my life. As for the situation from November 2021, I have a plan that I believe will work. If elected, I will not hesitate to implement it. For future challenges, I'd have to see what they are. Thank you for your question! Kind regards, Felix Lechner
Question to all candidates: how is Debian doing?
Hi, As someone who used to care a lot about Debian, but who hasn't been able to pay much attention to the project lately, I was wondering: How is Debian doing currently? What are the recent successes I might have missed? Where did we fail or under-perform? Which big challenges do you see ahead of us? Are there opportunities that we could leverage? - Lucas
Question to all candidates: Ongoing/future legal projects
Hi Candidates, I'm excited that you all are running and appreciate your willingness to take on this responsibility. In November 2021, it was discussed in debian-private that a team from Debian had been working with a lawyer for a while. (Not sharing details: issues remain ongoing.) How would you transition into taking on this particular responsibility and similar longer running issues should they arise in the future? Cheers, Molly
Re: Question to all candidates: Monthly "Bits from the DPL"
Hi Hideki, On Thu, Mar 17, 2022 at 12:28 AM Hideki Yamane wrote: > > And for that, I want **YOU** (contributors) to tell current situations. > I want to know, I want to hear, I want to talk with YOU (for the project > and me :) Your desire to engage with your future constituents embodies the highest virtues of representative government. I would be proud to have you as my project leader. Thank you so much for writing that! (The list was copied.) Kind regards, Felix Lechner
Re: Question to all candidates: rotation on positions of power
Hi, > What do you think of the reform of the Technical Committee that > introduced a limit to the time people can serve in, and would you > consider applying a similar policy to other positions of power in > Debian? I'm sorry, but could you explain "what do you want to improve with a term limit"? Well, just set term limit is not an ultimate solution, IMO. Without succession of knowledge and skill to new people, it just causes a discontinuity. -- Hideki Yamane
Re: Question to all candidates: Monthly "Bits from the DPL"
Hi, > I would like to know what is the stance of the 3 candidates on producing > monthly "Bits from the DPL" reports on their activities. > > I like them very much and I think they are a great way to keep us all > informed of what the DPL has been doing. Yes indeed. It's important for the Project, and gives some fun for us :) Without the map, we walk hard (and tired) but cannot get any progress. Sure I can write it, as evidence, I've written monthly Debian articles for Japanese magazine for 8 years (hear, hear! :) However, as I wrote, I'm not good at English so need some assistants with it, I guess (as I wrote in my platform, you would be bit busy to help). And for that, I want **YOU** (contributors) to tell current situations. I want to know, I want to hear, I want to talk with YOU (for the project and me :) Hope this reply help. -- Hideki Yamane
