Sorry, Florian, I should have clarified: I got sad because I saw a conversation about a private matter turning into a public indictment (of WMF).
Obviously there will need to be scrambling to fill Robla's big shoes. And lots of communication and coordination among relevant stakeholders. I understand if folks involved in ongoing initiatives are feeling out of the loop. Not everyone on staff feels in the loop either, FWIW, or knows what the next steps should be. That's not uncommon in this kind of situation. Also, we should probably open new discussion on another thread. - Jonathan On Thu, Nov 3, 2016 at 3:48 PM, Florian Schmidt < florian.schmidt.wel...@t-online.de> wrote: > Thanks Brian! > > That's exactly what this e-mail was for. I was also wondering, what > happened to him personally, however, it's more than ok and his own decision > to not say anything about it. However, like Brian wrote already, Robla had > (as far as I know) a very good standing in the community and it would be a > good communication about what happened (in any way), instead of "just" > disabling his account. > > However, this e-mail is (and wasn't at any time) to make anyone sad about > anything, and it makes me sad, that the thread resulted in this feeling for > some people :( > > Best, > Florian > > -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- > Von: Wikitech-l [mailto:wikitech-l-boun...@lists.wikimedia.org] Im > Auftrag von bawolff > Gesendet: Donnerstag, 3. November 2016 21:07 > An: Wikimedia developers <wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org> > Betreff: Re: [Wikitech-l] What happened to RobLa? > > Robla obviously deserves his privacy if he wants that. However I think its > rather natural for people to wonder "What happened" when an employee who is > as much in the public spotlight as robla is, suddenly and unexpectedly > leaves. > > Obviously just because it is "natural" doesn't mean we deserve answers. I > think Wes's short email was sufficient in terms of answering the what > happened question. However, simply putting a global lock on someone's > account (Which was the state of things before this > thread) is not good communication and bound to raise eyebrows. > > There is also the more pragmatic question of how Robla's responsibilities > will be transferred. Robla did a lot for MediaWiki, and transitions are > scary. Transitions with no information are even scarier. How will Robla's > initiatives be carried forward? Is the architecture committee mature enough > to continue on purely its own steam without Robla pushing it forward? How > does this affect the "vision" for MediaWiki (emphasis on MediaWiki, not > Wikimedia)? Will development of Wikimedia's technology further devolve into > independent fiefdoms without Robla balancing the architecture needs of > different groups? All these concerns are in my mind, and I think the minds > of others. It would be nice to get some reassurance about what is going to > happen next. > > -- > Brian > [To be 100% clear, posting with my volunteer hat firmly on] > > On Thu, Nov 3, 2016 at 4:17 PM, Jonathan Morgan <jmor...@wikimedia.org> > wrote: > > +1 Petr. This thread makes me sad and uncomfortable. > > > > - J > > > > On Thu, Nov 3, 2016 at 9:03 AM, Toby Negrin <tneg...@wikimedia.org> > wrote: > > > >> Thank you Petr. Well said! > >> -Toby > >> > >> On Thu, Nov 3, 2016 at 2:39 AM, Petr Bena <benap...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> > >> > Hello, > >> > > >> > I don't like to sound like a bad guy, but I really find it quite > >> > inappropriate to discuss this sort of stuff on a public mailing list. > >> > This really is a personal matter. If he didn't post any dramatical > >> > announcement perhaps he wanted to "leave quietly"? > >> > > >> > You know, people sometimes do this sort of stuff for very personal > >> > reasons, they just don't want to discuss with public, and who > >> > knows, maybe he would return back one day? He wouldn't be first to > >> > do that :) Or maybe he is going to stick around as a volunteer? > >> > Let's be optimistic! > >> > > >> > If you really want to know the details, you can always ask him > >> > directly. Fortunately he is not dead, so no need to mourn him. As > >> > an employee of WMF, he was always very friendly and extremely > >> > useful, so indeed I /do/ hope he will stay with us, at least as a > volunteer. > >> > > >> > On Thu, Nov 3, 2016 at 10:16 AM, Tilman Bayer > >> > <tba...@wikimedia.org> > >> > wrote: > >> > > On Tue, Nov 1, 2016 at 3:54 AM, Federico Leva (Nemo) < > >> nemow...@gmail.com > >> > > > >> > > wrote: > >> > > > >> > >> As a reminder on goodbyes, WMF HR used to announce everyone's > >> > >> last day > >> > at > >> > >> https://identi.ca/wikimediaatwork (can't take more than a couple > >> > >> minutes); then the announcements became monthly, then quarterly; > >> > >> then > >> we > >> > >> lost this courtesy as well https://meta.wikimedia.org/wik > >> > >> i/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_reports#Staff . > >> > > > >> > > > >> > > As already noted higher up on that talk page, that's a > misconception. > >> > > Timely updates now happen on the WMF wiki instead, where RobLa's > >> > departure > >> > > had already been recorded by HR before you sent this email: > >> > > https://wikimediafoundation.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Staff_ > >> > > and_ > >> > > contractors&action=history > >> > > > >> > > > >> > >> > >> > > > >> > > > >> > > -- > >> > > Tilman Bayer > >> > > Senior Analyst > >> > > Wikimedia Foundation > >> > > IRC (Freenode): HaeB > >> > > _______________________________________________ > >> > > Wikitech-l mailing list > >> > > Wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org > >> > > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l > >> > > >> > _______________________________________________ > >> > Wikitech-l mailing list > >> > Wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org > >> > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l > >> > > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Wikitech-l mailing list > >> Wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org > >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l > >> > > > > > > > > -- > > Jonathan T. Morgan > > Senior Design Researcher > > Wikimedia Foundation > > User:Jmorgan (WMF) > > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Jmorgan_(WMF)> > > _______________________________________________ > > Wikitech-l mailing list > > Wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org > > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l > > _______________________________________________ > Wikitech-l mailing list > Wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l > > > _______________________________________________ > Wikitech-l mailing list > Wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l > -- Jonathan T. Morgan Senior Design Researcher Wikimedia Foundation User:Jmorgan (WMF) <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Jmorgan_(WMF)> _______________________________________________ Wikitech-l mailing list Wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l
