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 <[email protected]> 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 [email protected], 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 > > -- > Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~elementary-dev-community > Post to : [email protected] > Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~elementary-dev-community > More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp > -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~elementary-dev-community Post to : [email protected] Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~elementary-dev-community More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
