Just a quick note to clear up one central misconception: There is no one single way in which all FOSS projects work. Some people here are trying to spread that mantra but that is in my opinion a myth. There are tens of thousands of FOSS projects out there which are organized in totally different ways.
They also very often have strong central leadership with a clear focus and a select few with commit access to CVS repositories, administration rights to web pages etc. They are seldom democratic in the normal sense with voting etc and many have even dictators for life (Theo DeRaadt of OpenBSD seems like a good example, correct me if I'm wrong). What separates them from non FOSS projects is mainly a high level of transparency and openness. The concept of being able to fork the project is also very central, making it easy for a group to break out and do their own thing if the current leadership doesn't work for them. This all helps to keep it honest and focused on the important goals since the whole project, including its leaders, easily can be replaced by a duplicate at any time. Regards, Tord 2008/6/13 John Botscharow <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 > > For those who do not wish to read and/or participate in > strategy/structure discussions, feel free to ignore this message. > > I have heard a lot of discussion here about how things work in a FOSS > community and want to offer some insights on that and how it relates to > what marketing is. This is a lengthy post, but I would very much > appreciate you all reading it in its entirety before commenting. > > When you talk about FOSS communities and how they do things, that seems > to be referring to communities of developers - operative word here. > That model works well with things like software packages, documentation > projects, translation projects. even artwork projects - where you are > producing a discrete tangible product. But marketing, although it uses > discrete tangible products, and one might even consider a specific > marketing campaign like the one I am working out, as a tangible, > discrete product, the real purpose of marketing, especially marketing > something like Ubuntu is much more intangible. > > We are trying to change the way people think and feel and act - their > buying habits. Every marketing project is or should be focused on that > goal, and that goal alone. Yes, a specific marketing project can have a > more specific tangible goal, like giving away 1000 LiveCDs at a > convention, but that goal does not exist outside of or separate from, > the overall goal of changing peoples minds and behavior. > > Any of these tangible discrete marketing projects that is not done > within the context of the greater marketing goal is not really serious > marketing. And because of this need for integration into the greater > marketing goal, there has to be some kind of "power" structure - a lead > marketer is the term used in a lot of marketing agencies - to ensure > that individual projects are integrated and coordinated with each > other. That is not something that can be done by consensus or anarchy. > Someone - either an individual or a committee - has to take > responsibility for that. > > This individual/committee has to take responsibility for achieving the > marketing needs and goals of the customer - in this case, the Ubuntu > community. Someone has to be held accountable for meeting those needs. > > There is, IMHO, no one, not ever Cody, the team administrator, who is > held accountable for or takes responsibility for whether the marketing > team is meeting the marketing needs of the Ubuntu community. > > That is what I am working on in discussions with some other people on > this team who have expressed interest in team leadership - a proposal > for a group of marketers who will be responsible for and held > accountable for achieving the marketing goal - Fixing Bug #1 - of the > Ubuntu community. And, IMHO, that is what the entire Ubuntu community > is waiting for us to do - why they are so interested in this discussion. > > Given that no one, as far as I can tell, has much of a marketing > success track record, operative word being marketing, selecting this > committee by meritocracy is not possible. An election is an option but > that takes time. and at this point in the history of this team, I am > not sure that the results of such an election would be the best for > meeting the needs of the Ubuntu community. > > My opinion on this, and these are the people, with one exception, I > have tried to get together are the people on this list who have > publicly expressed a desire and willingness to be responsible, and > hopefully - although we have not yet discussed this - be held > accountable for meeting the marketing goal of the Ubuntu community. And > who either have prior MARKETING experience or have exhibited that they > understand what marketing is all about. Sorry, people, but, IMHO, most > of you have a very limited understanding of marketing and how it works. > That's not a criticism but a statement of fact based on my observations > of what is being said and done here. > > I am not familiar with all the in and outs, both technical and > political, of how things get done on the Ubuntu community. But I do > know marketing, having done it in one form or another since I was a kid > with a paper route. And, honestly, knowing marketing should be the ONLY > real criteria for leadership on this team. Anything else can be > delegated to people with the appropriate technical skills or political > savvy. > > Finally, if the FOSS model that seems to be invoking as something > sacrosanct does not work for this team, then let's find one that does > work. But, IMO. the REAL FOSS model does work with some modification, > perhaps, because of the particular place this team is at at this > particular time. Reserve judgment until you actually have something to > judge and stop nitpicking because we are perhaps going against what > everyone else is supposedly doing. > > - -- > Peace! > > John > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- > Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux) > > iD8DBQFIUlhVsTN+hz1Fu7URAlBYAJ0Sv3vAGsT0Xa/C1Ou9fEo1EYbUQgCeOKjL > nCkpJIVDgEvpJNXaXST8c98= > =EiSk > -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- > -- > ubuntu-marketing mailing list > [email protected] > Modify settings or unsubscribe at: > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing >
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