I like all of Ben's suggestions except having a vote. Not being democratic has worked well for Mozilla. Having clear owners and expertise has worked. Switching to votes doesn't actually ensure people's voices are heard, and I think it actually does a worse job of making sure people's voices are heard than having owners who are held accountable.
Basically, we're smart people, and we should be able to use logic and reason to come to a consensus. If we can't come to a consensus we need to take a look and decide if we're close enough to move forward, or if we need to find and tackle what is blocking the consensus. On Thu, Apr 3, 2014 at 5:18 PM, jsabash <[email protected]> wrote: > On 4/3/2014 4:44 PM, Kyle Huey wrote: > >> On Thu, Apr 3, 2014 at 1:06 PM, Ben Bucksch <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >>> I've wanted to post this proposal since a long time, but given that >>> Mozilla >>> now needs to decide about both a CTO and CEO, I think this is a good >>> time: >>> >>> I've always seen Mozilla as a project, not a company. And a project is >>> supported by its project members. Ultimately, in a non-commercial >>> project, >>> big project decisions should be coming from the community at large, not >>> from >>> top down. Big decisions are platform decisions like XUL or HTML or native >>> Android UI, should we do Metro or not etc., but also leadership >>> positions. >>> >>> I imagine it roughly like this: >>> >>> * A question comes up, either a lead position opens up, or there is >>> question about the general direction of the project >>> * The question is posted on a dedicated newsgroup reserved for such >>> matters >>> * Key community members voice their view on the matter >>> * We have a high-level discussion, preferably lightly moderated to >>> ensure that the posts are well-written arguments and not just heat. >>> Heat will be moderated out, to ensure that ratio rules. >>> * After 2-4 weeks, we call for a vote, and each commiter has a vote >>> * This decision is considered final >>> >>> >>> I think this would do the project good: >>> >>> * More inclusive, voices are heard (which I currently personally feel >>> is not the case) >>> * We base our decision on a boarder scale of views and arguments than >>> a small group can >>> * The final decision is reflecting the views of the people who >>> actually need to carry it out. A "we" feeling. >>> * Dramas like the last week are avoided, because the voices are heard >>> before the decision, so nobody can complain after. >>> >>> >>> This is a big change in the nature of leadership at Mozilla, which so far >>> has been top-down. >>> >>> I want to emphasize that this proposal is not a response to the last >>> week. >>> I've believed since 10 years that this would be a good change. >>> >>> Ben >>> _______________________________________________ >>> governance mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/governance >>> >> Mozilla is not and never has been a democracy. That hasn't changed. >> Ultimate decision making authority continues to rest in Brendan for >> technical matters and Mitchell for everything else, and is delegated >> through the module ownership system that also has not changed. >> >> We've had this argument many times before. I don't see anything new here. >> >> - Kyle >> _______________________________________________ >> governance mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/governance >> >> Is there such a thing as a "Perfect Dictatorship" ? > Dare I say that I think that it does not exist on this earth. > (Crossing fingers that a coalition of atheist activists doesn't call for > revocation of my Bugzilla privileges) > > Sorry, I just had to get that out. > But when a well thought out suggestion such as Ben's is dismissed out of > hand it certainly points to a flaw in the machine. > > +1 on Ben's suggestions > --*JoeS* > > _______________________________________________ > governance mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/governance > _______________________________________________ governance mailing list [email protected] https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/governance
