Hi all at the GNOME Foundation, I would respectfully like to submit my candidacy for the GNOME Foundation Board of Directors. I am the co-creator of the Samba Free Software Project, and am employed as Samba maintainer by Google's Open Source Programs Office.
My vision for GNOME is the following. I often give talks at Free and Open Source software conferences looking out onto a sea of glowing Apple logos from MacOSX laptops. I'd really like to change that so that most of these attendees are using a desktop built with Free and Open Source Software technologies. I'd also like to see the same change take place in companies and governments using desktop technology. I believe that GNOME is the best chance for Free Software to make this change and provide truly democratizing technology, accessible for everyone. I have been a user of a Free Software desktop since the X Windows days (pre-Linux and GNOME) and all my personal (and work) machines run Linux desktops a full GNOME desktop, or a desktop based on GNOME technology (Unity). We should also be mindful of the fact that any use of Free and Open Source Software for users is better than none, and not be shy about promoting the use of other Free Software desktop technologies such as the KDE, or other Open Source desktops where it is clear that using GNOME is not going to be an option. I serve on the Board of Directors of the Software Freedom Conservancy (https://sfconservancy.org/) and on the Board of Directors of OASIS, a non-profit creating and maintaining worldwide IT standards (https://oasis-open.org). I am also on the GNOME Foundation advisory board and on the Document Foundation (creators of LibreOffce) advisory board. Whilst being a Google employee, I have a strong independent voice outside of my employer, and believe in standing up for what is right, not just what is convenient for corporate users of Free and Open Source Software. I believe the right way forward for GNOME is in partnership with our users, developers and financial backers to help create a strong independent Foundation that will focus on improving GNOME and advocating for the use of GNOME technologies everywhere that our technology will help serve the public good. I have a long experience dealing with the sometimes thorny politics of Free and Open Source Software, and would love to be able to use my expertise to help the GNOME Foundation. I'm happy to answer any questions Foundation members may have about my background and thoughts about the future of GNOME. Regards, Jeremy Allison, Samba Team, Google Open Source Programs Office. _______________________________________________ foundation-announce mailing list foundation-announce@gnome.org https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-announce