At 07:40 09.12.2002 -0500, James Taylor wrote:
> >- things being 'easier' when being a member: of course not, and I hope
> >that wasn't the impression that I gave
>
> The message I was trying to get across was that the "firewall"
> a.k.a. barrier between members and committers exists mostly in
> people's minds. Membership is not much more than a recognition of
> one's work plus a stamp of approval for being "usually reasonable."
> Think of membership as even more positive karma in slashdot. From the
> Foundations perspective membership also entails responsibilities and
> obligations but that's a different topic.
It is a real barrier in that things seem less opaque for members. You
can tell people that nothing important happens on the members only
lists, but as long as there _are_ members only lists and such, the
firewall will always be percieved.
Many things remain opaque for members because new members do not
suddenly become omniscient. The phenomena of community legends exists
within Apache as within any community with some history. What sets
Apache apart from other communities is its built in open and tolerant
nature. Openness is a hard term to define. IMO, the ability to speak
up and argue on almost any matter without fear of retribution makes
Apache open.
You will not find a single member claiming that important business is
conducted on the members list. The argument of members only mailing
lists preventing committers from gaining access to important
information does not hold water unless one assumes that all ASF
members are irredeemable liars united in a conspiracy against the poor
committers.
Some say that perception is everything. If perception is everything,
then reason and truth do not matter. As far as I am concerned, reason
and truth are everything with perception a distant contender. After
all, we all perceive the earth to be flat which does not make the
earth any less spherical.
What is great about Apache is that a good argument and some
perseverance will get you a long way. That is a fact. Status matters
but less than one would imagine. My disappointment with Apache was
that occasionally you get a very persistent person who convincingly
promotes bad ideas. Although some may see that and not agree, they
eventually throw in the towel. It then takes the community months or
even years to realize that the idea was bad. Of course, the problem
does stem from the open nature of the ASF but rather from the
imperfections of *any* conceivable system. The bottom line is that we
should not mistake the failings of the system with our own PGL
syndrome (paranoia, greed and laziness).
-- jt, observing not complaining.
--
Ceki, expounding not accusing.
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