On 11/6/2014 4:55 PM, Andrei POPESCU wrote: > ----- Forwarded message from Sam Hartman <hartm...@debian.org> ----- > > Date: Thu, 6 Nov 2014 09:58:29 +0000 > From: Sam Hartman <hartm...@debian.org> > To: debian-proj...@lists.debian.org > Cc: debian-de...@lists.debian.org > Subject: Time for compassion and the Init GR > User-Agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/24.3 (gnu/linux) > > > Early morning, Wednesday, November 19, the results of the GR on init > system coupling will be announced. > No result will make everyone happy. In fact, that morning, some of our > developers, users and contributors will be really unhappy. > > I would be dishonest if I said I didn't hope to be happy and reassured that > morning. I suspect we all hope that the project will agree with our > position on this complex and emotionally intense issue and reassure us > that our values are close to those of the project; reassure us that > this is a place where we can safely work together. > > I don't know who, but I know that for some of the people I care about in > the project--people whose opinion I value--that morning will bring > disappointment, sadness, frustration and fear. I may well be one of > those people. > > However, Wednesday November 19 and every day after, Debian needs to work > together. Today, now, before the results are announced, we have an > opportunity to extend compassion and empathy and remind ourselves of the > spirit in which we'd like to work together. > > I'm hoping that we can all take a few minutes to gain empathy for those > who disagree with us. Then I'm hoping we can use that understanding to > reassure them that they are valued and respected and their concerns > considered even when we end up strongly disagreeing with them or valuing > different things. Towards that, I ask you to take a few minutes to > consider how you will feel if the option other than further discussion > that you least favor is selected by the project. Actually, for some of > us, the prospect of months of further discussion of this issue itself is > likely to have its own negative feelings. For the moment though, I ask > that you focus on one of the other options. > > What do you feel? Disappointment that the project didn't value > something important to you? Fear about whether Debian will meet your > needs as an OS and community? Sadness? Frustration? Fear when you > consider whether you'll be able to get your work done? > > What actions could other members of the project take to turn some of > those feelings around without compromising their beliefs, changing their > mind, or giving up on the values that are important to them? I'll > answer this question for myself in a moment; if you cannot think of > things that would help you, perhaps some of the things that would help > me would also be valuable to you. If not, you could find someone you > trust and value and work together to see what you could ask for to > receive emotional care. > > It's almost certainly true that others in the project--people you have > worked with over the years--will have similar feelings if their least > favored option is selected. Some of those people probably disagree with > you. > I'd ask you to consider extending other members of the project the sort > of care that will help you--the actions you were thinking about in the > previous paragraph. My hope is that by doing so we can all treat each > other with respect and value without compromising our positions. In > many cases, it may make sense to extend that care now, to commit now to > an attitude of care and respect even when we might be the ones needing > that care in a couple of weeks. > > For myself, here are things that I'd really value in a situation where > I'm feeling disappointed, sad and afraid that my values might not match > the project's: > > * Not talking about these tradeoffs in terms of what's right and wrong, > but acknowledging that different members of our project have different > values. User choice isn't bad any more than combining software to > reduce code size is bad. There isn't a right answer. As Russ has > explained a number of times in the TC, on debian-vote and on his blog, > this is about tradeoffs. I'm sure some people will be happy if the > project's values are aligned with theirs. When they take that as far > as saying the project made the "right decision" or rejected "bad > options," they are not valuing the contributions of those who disagreed > with them. > > > * People who disagree with me taking the time to understand my > position. "Hey, Sam, what you seem to be saying is this...for these > reasons. Have I got it?" That is, people taking the time to make > sure they understand me without trying to persuade me. I'm not asking > for agreement, simply that I'm valued and my opinions are valued > enough to read, understand and confirm that understanding. I feel > reassured that someone took the time to consider what I had to say > even if they came to a different conclusion. > > * When true, reassurances that we share common values even in situations > where we disagree about how to balance tradeoffs. > > * Offers to work together/to listen to my opinions in future. "Hey, > Sam, I > realize the decision didn't go the way you were hoping, but I'm > interested in figuring out how within the scope of what we did decide > we can best address the concerns you had." I really hope that folks > who value user choice will be willing to work with those who are > trying to introduce improved ways of doing things regardless of what > we decide. > > > * Reassurances that I'm acting in good faith/that it's clear we're all > working to build the best Debian we can even when we have different > ideas of what that is. > > > Don't be afraid to offer the sort of care that you'd like to receive in > public mail. -project seems relatively quiet at the moment. Yeah, > feel-good messages do take up space in the inbox. However, even if we > managed to generate 1/100th the messages that this discussion has > already taken reminding ourselves that we're a community, filled with > heart-felt desires to respect and value each other, I think it will be > worth it. > > Also, I understand that this issue is really important to a lot of us. > I've heard implications from people on multiple sides of the issue that > they are not sure they will be able to stay involved/contribute at their > current level if it turns out their values and the project's values are > significantly misaligned on this issue. I'm always sad when I hear > that people feel the need to leave a community. Recently, I was really > touched by a note about the importance of happiness. Unfortunately it > was on debian-private so I cannot point to it here. I can say though > I'd be even more sad to hear that someone stayed against the calling of > their happiness than finding a community that is aligned with their > values. Change happens. We refine our values as we grow. I for one am > committed to respecting both Debian and any who choose to leave. I hope > we treat each other with respect and value when our paths cross again. > The free software community and the broader IT community are bigger > places with room for a lot of values. If another project/community > works better for you, I hope you find value in contributing there. I > hope that project and Debian learn from each other, and I hope that the > experience you found in Debian brings value to you in the future. > > Thanks for listening to me, and I hope that together we can reaffirm our > commitment to our users and free software in a wonderful community. > > > > ----- End forwarded message ----- >
Unfortunately, from the tone of the message I can almost guess whet the result of the GR will be. I hope I'm wrong - but if I'm not, it's going to create a rift in debian users, and could well result in a fork and/or large numbers of people abandoning Debian. Jerry -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: https://lists.debian.org/545c387f.6010...@attglobal.net