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
<http://bazaar.launchpad.net/%7Eelementary-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
<mailto: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
