elementary-dev-community team mailing list archive

[Allen Lowe <lallenlowe@xxxxxxxxx>]

Sergey,
I must say that I appreciate the tone and professionalism of your
email. In the volunteer software development world, it is easy to have
conflict, and difficult to resolve said conflict in a way that
benefits all involved parties. I truly hope that we don't lose some of
our best and most important developers over some simple disagreements.
Also, I personally think that re-raising the question of monetization
in a more open setting would be appropriate and beneficial. However,
in any project where there are opposing views that can't be resolved,
SOMEONE must have the last word, and I think we can all agree that
person is Dan.
I am really sorry you had a negative experience, it's something we try
to avoid, but we are all just humans. I hope you don't let the
opposition destroy what has been a long and fruitful relationship with
elementary. That is my two cents, I hope to hear from some more
developers and council members also.


Happy Hacking,
Allen Lowe


On Mon, Jun 25, 2012 at 5:30 AM, Сергей Давыдов <shnatsel@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Yesterday I announced in #elementary-dev and #elementary-web that I'm
> quitting the project. Rumors spread fast and they're usually more scary than
> truth is, so I'm writing this to clarify what happened, what caused me to do
> that and "if I'm really quitting".
>
> What happened
>
> I'm attaching the controversial log so you don't have to take my word for
> anything. My IRC nickname is "SergeLion" these days.
> I removed the username and password required to access the development site
> from the log because I'm not sure I'm allowed to publish them and replaced
> them with "<username:password - deleted because I'm not sure I can publish
> them. --shnatsel>". No other edits were done.
>
> The frontpage discussed in the log is down at the moment, but you can
> download the mockup at
> http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~elementary-design/+junk/mockups/view/131/elementaryweb/Frontpage/Luna/homeluna.svg
> It seems to require Inkscape for proper rendering.
>
> What's my problem with that
>
> My problem is particularly about this part:
>
>> <DanRabbit>    Once again, this is not the time or place for that
>> discussion
>> <DanRabbit>    the discussion is not about whether the pay process is
>> attached to the download process
>> <DanRabbit>    it is
>> <DanRabbit>    that's how it's gonna go down
>> <DanRabbit>    the discussion is about how we ensure people know they can
>> pay $0 if they'd like
>> <SergeLion>    DanRabbit: where and when do I start the business model
>> discussion?
>> <DanRabbit>    SergeLion: like 6 months ago or after this model doesn't
>> work out.
>> <SergeLion>    DanRabbit: shit. I quit. Now.
>> <DanRabbit>    It's a little freaking late to try to change everything
>> dude
>> <DanRabbit>    It's not like we didn't have this discussion a LONG time
>> ago
>
>
> Business or fundraising model is an important and touchy issue affecting the
> whole project. I'm a little surprised that as a (mere) developer, I'm not
> aware of an important project decision made "like 6 months ago". I'm
> especially surprised by the closed-door business model decision because I've
> been studying the free software phenomenon for the past two years, and I did
> mention that more than once to the council. I cannot show off a PhD in free
> software and free culture theory, mostly because this subject is pretty much
> unexplored and I'm kind of breaking new ground. There are even hardly any
> books on the subject - Eric Raymond's "Cathedral and the Bazaar" back from
> 1997 and Lawrence Lessig's "Free Culture" are pretty much everything we
> have, and I'm not aware of any work besides mine to systematize the recent
> facts and give a broader understanding of how e.g. free culture business
> works and how it can be used. My only arguments for being right are: always
> relying on facts and existing success stories, being invited to lecture
> along with professors and accomplished businessmen, and not being proven
> wrong so far. Sure, I cannot state I know or correctly understand
> everything, but I at least did study the subject and as of my experience
> no-cost business/fundraising model will work much better (do I have to
> remind of Nine Inch Nails' albums being released for free download under
> creative commons and failing to reach tops of any charts but ranking #1 paid
> purchase on Amazon MP3 service at the same time?)
>
> I've uploaded and shared the funding opportunities document with the council
> on the 26th of March 2012. Here's the document, you can see that in the
> revision history:
> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pAEymg8cQ5-tqhn6exxaUEWZbZXQ47YbfeYkM6nMqdQ/edit
> The document invitation was sent to council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, so I assume
> the Council members were aware of its existence.
> That was 3 months ago. I was not notified by any Council member that
> everything is already decided.
>
> And now I'm confronted by an accomplished fact. The decision is made. It's
> not backed by any successful cases and it seems to be vastly suboptimal, if
> not disappointing to me. I think I have a better alternative. But I cannot
> influence the decision. And it's also disappointing because this is not the
> way I intended my work to be used.
>
> I can't help but feel pwned. These are not the ideals towards which I've
> been working all this time. This is not the elementary into which I can put
> my spare time, effort, hopes or beliefs. I'm not going to willingly put my
> effort into it. I'm quitting.
>
> What really happened
>
> I have to admit DanRabbit always took my concerns into account and never
> pushed his decisions, and for that I respect him greatly. This is actually
> the first time I bump into such issue for the whole my year-long
> participation. This is really not like Dan. And if he really wouldn't care,
> he could just get away with some bull reply, like that they'll consider it
> in the next council meeting and I'd fuck off (that is actually a bull reply
> because I have no way of knowing what happens in council meetings).
>
> I assume he's just tired of discussing the matter and is willing to take any
> decision just to settle to something. I have been through this myself, so I
> can understand that. Dan seems to have been really busy lately, both in
> elementary and IRL. In addition, elementary puts a great deal of pressure
> and responsibility on him. So I hope he did not really mean what the log
> reads.
>
> What now
>
> I plead to the Council to make a business/funding model decision in a
> transparent way and consider community suggestions. This decision is
> dictated by the way the money will be used, which is also a sensitive matter
> and would better be discussed with the developer community.
>
> I also plead for establishing a better decision-making process. I guess the
> incident proves that the current one is not good enough.
> I've hit up some books and got some ideas on the subject which I'm willing
> to share, but that's a vast separate topic.
>
> Please not to discuss the business/funding model in this thread. This is a
> touchy and now controversial issue, so I fear it will do more harm than
> good. If you have concerns regarding it, please write them down for future
> reference, and bring them up as part of Council-organized process.
>
> Regarding myself
>
> I blame burnout and hack on until DanRabbit comments on the events.
> I will also attempt to participate in the process of deciding the monetary
> goals and offer my expertise on means of meeting them (again).
>
> Yours faithfully,
> --
> Sergey "Shnatsel" Davidoff
>
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