Hi Guys
Having been a long time follower of SME and it has taken me a while to
compose this, although I have strayed from time to time I have always
come back to SME server just for the simplicity of the system and I
guess it is what I know best. There is tons of info in the wiki and forums.
I know it is not for everyone and you do need to go to the command line
to add those nice extras from the contribs section that guys have spent
hours on it would be nice to reach a stage of a one click on the admin
interface to install a recommended and tested contrib but we are a long
way from something like that.
We all want to get to the stage where we have an up to date base system
to work from and support the newer hardware and software out there, I do
realize that the devs are thin on the ground and that shad and others
have done an amazing job with the years of hosting and support, I as an
end user I would like to thank him and all the other devs for all the
work they have done over the years, its not often enough they get
recognition for the amount of work they do, in fact many times they have
been give grief for there affords.
At the end of the day we have to look forward and decide what we want to do.
There has to be some form of structure put in place.
I am not a developer but more an end user, my contribution can only be a
little financial donation when I can afford it and a bit of help on the
forums if I can ( although Mary and Stefano are most helpful to the
people that post just about anything), they live on the forums and we
must remember that the forums and the wiki is the public face of SME
server and they are a huge asset to SME server.
Speaking of that ... The way I see it the forums is the first place
people come for help, I know that is where I went to begin with.
1. The forums and wiki are the public face of the development there
should be a section there to let people know what is happening in the
background on a regular basis, I don't mean just every five or six
months, something just to keep people up to speed on developments,
someplace users can stumble across to show there is a lot of work
happening in the background hey even a small blog ? !! , but only the
devs / admins can post in it.
2. The lists are really where the development takes place but most of
the public will seldom ever venture here as it is let's say,,,, another
world. We can all subscribe to it, like I have for years, look at the
odd blip on the screen and look at interest at the on goings (this is my
first ever post to the lists please forgive me)
3. IRC is where people of similar knowledge and general followers can
meet and have a general chat, even perhaps help someone, I would say
80% of the people who ever registered on the forum know nothing about
either mailing lists or IRC.
Structure
this is a must.
We need some group to guide us otherwise people run around doing there
own thing and get nothing done.
Timeline:
Get to the base system i.e. centos 6 within a reasonable time, do not
put time strict time constraints on it but make a target.
I have looked with interest at the lists, forums IRC and want to
acknowledge the efforts of all to keep the system alive and as up to
date as possible and I will do my utmost to support the distro even
though my effort is only small in comparison to what others put into it.
Regards
William Chambers AKA versa
Ps,
Phew!! Im glad I put this through the spell checker my grasp of the
English language is poor :D
On 18/01/2013 23:05, John Crisp wrote:
On 18/01/13 21:24, Greg Zartman wrote:
Ive been part of this community for nearly 15 years and I cant think of
anytime over the last 15 years that any significant project
decisions/direction have been made by the community on these mailing
lists. As far as I can recall, all of them were made by what ever
corporate entity, or business, that controlled the project at that
time. In between these corporate entities, and businesses, driving
the decisions; nothing happens. Yes, we talk about it like we are
now, then the talking stops and nothing happens.
Fact is, unless developers want to work for free, then the only way
this project is going to happen is if it is run like a business.
Business decisions arent democratic. Someone has to ultimately make
the call, decision, or whatever.
SMEs current structure simply does not work. This is why the project is
3 years, at most, from being dead.
No arguments there IMHO.
As far as I am concerned I will work at it until it is gets a pulse or
drops dead.
'Stuff' has happened in the past. That was yesterday. Tomorrow is
another day. We can't forget yesterday as there are valuable lessons to
be learned from history.
As far as I am concerned NOTHING is out. We have to try all avenues.
This is now 2013. Times have changed massively, even in 4 years. We have
to go with what is happening now, and cut our cloth accordingly.
The old ways clearly DIDN'T work. Sorry if that offends, but its true.
Change or die.
We need more modern collaboration tools. People are used to different
forms of comms theses days. We need to embrace that, and make it work.
Personally I hate Facebook and it's ilk. But people are USED to instant
comms, and somehow we have to accommodate that. As I said before, lists
are great, but they are soulless.
Tonight on IRC I have chatted with a few people. Casually. It was FUN
for godssake ! The most fun I have had with SME in years........
And we need to inject that, a bit of life, back into the patient before
he keels over completely.
We need to make a community, not just a collection of people. Give
people the opportunity to be involved, feel like they are heard and
appreciated, and feel like they belong.
That or we can all pack up and leave someone to turn out the lights. Was
there ever a committee formed for that ???
B. Rgds
John
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