I won't be attending simply because it is organized by Pierre (and because the genesis of this meeting seems to have come from a very negative perspective). Those of you who are new to the community or who he is polite to may not be aware of how rude Pierre can be. While he does do some good work from time to time I believe his presence in the community causes more harm than good. He has almost continuously attacked or worked against the PMC for the last year or two and I simply have no interest in hearing anything he has to say any longer. Almost no one seems to remember that he told the ASF he would chair an OFBiz presence at an ApacheCon a year or so ago, it was advertised, calls for papers/talks were made and submitted and then not long before the conference... he disappeared with no explanation to anyone. PMC members were forced to attend the conference (that he organized without consulting the PMC at all) and chair in his place on short notice to maintain the credibility of the project. As far as I know he has never apologized to or thanked those who took his place and never offered an explanation, he simply reappeared 6 months later and carried on causing trouble as usual. I have a hard time believing Pierre will ever be a committer or core contributor to this project so long as he continues to spectacularly fail at working well with others (this is just my opinion, I'm only one voice of many in the community). While I believe he is a destructive force in the community, there is nothing I can do about that, everyone is pretty much free to do as they please. It's up to each and every one of you to decide what he brings to the table and interact with him accordingly.
People talk about PMC "hidden agendas" and other conspiracy theories but often the reality is that it can be difficult to find motivation to work on a project that is constantly critical of the work you do. When I joined this project there was very little infighting and contributing was a rewarding experience that earned you respect and praise from your peers. It's a warm fuzzy feeling that keeps you active at nights and on weekends working on something you're passionate about. For me, that passion is fast disappearing because of people like Pierre (he is certainly not the first but he is particularly vocal). It feels like I'm regularly reading critical emails from various community members, either of the way the project is run or the way the project is progressing. What I very rarely see is any action behind the talk; people suggest major changes and then carry on with their day. No one actually gets anything done. I'm sure some of you would replace the entire PMC given half the chance and that may seem like some great achievement, but eventually... you're going to have to actually do something tangible to keep the community happy and achieve the goals you speak of. If you're not doing anything tangible now, then you're as much a part of the problem as anyone else, take pause before you throw those stones. You're being critical of those who have stayed when others have come and gone, those who have contributed more unpaid hours than most. How many of you can claim that you do the work in project that would match what you'd like to see from a committer or PMC member? There is absolutely nothing stopping you from making that type of contribution right now, so what is the issue? For those of you who have an opinion but aren't actually doing anything tangible (commit reviews, patch reviews, ticket research, contributing designs and documentation), the brighter future of OFBiz starts with you. Be the change that you want to see, go and do something productive for the project instead of complaining about what others are not doing. Just to be clear, contributing to general discussions isn't much of a contribution, it's extremely rare that they result in anything positive actually happening. Regards Scott On 7/03/2014, at 9:00 PM, Pierre Smits wrote: > Hi All, > > I invite you to join me and participate in an open discussion on the > functioning and future of OFbiz via a teleconference on March 13, 2014. > > Share your thoughts and insights on how you feel it going and what you > would like to see addressed in the project. Plus, it is a great opportunity > to get to know your fellow community member better than just through > communications via mailing lists. > > I have set up a conference space through www.freeconferencecall.com and > tried to find an optimum sweet spot for the time slot to convene this > teleconference that will minimise the inconvenience for most. Therefore I > have chosen to set the starting time at 14:30 AMS time. Please find below a > small overview of starting times in different timezones: > > LocationLocal timeTime zoneUTC offsetLos > Angeles<http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=137> (U.S.A. > - California)Thursday, 13 March 2014, > 06:30:00PDT<http://www.timeanddate.com/library/abbreviations/timezones/na/pdt.html>UTC-7 > hoursNew York <http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=179> (U.S.A. > - New York)Thursday, 13 March 2014, > 09:30:00EDT<http://www.timeanddate.com/library/abbreviations/timezones/na/edt.html>UTC-4 > hoursLondon <http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=136> (United > Kingdom - England)Thursday, 13 March 2014, > 13:30:00GMT<http://www.timeanddate.com/library/abbreviations/timezones/eu/gmt.html> > UTCAmsterdam <http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=16> > (Netherlands)Thursday, 13 March 2014, > 14:30:00CET<http://www.timeanddate.com/library/abbreviations/timezones/eu/cet.html>UTC+1 > hourMoscow <http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=166> > (Russia)Thursday, > 13 March 2014, > 17:30:00MSK<http://www.timeanddate.com/library/abbreviations/timezones/eu/msk.html>UTC+4 > hoursBangalore <http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=438> (India > - Karnataka)Thursday, 13 March 2014, > 19:00:00IST<http://www.timeanddate.com/library/abbreviations/timezones/asia/ist.html>UTC+5:30 > hoursBangkok <http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=28> > (Thailand)Thursday, 13 March 2014, > 20:30:00ICT<http://www.timeanddate.com/library/abbreviations/timezones/asia/ict.html>UTC+7 > hoursAuckland <http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=22> (New > Zealand)Friday, 14 March 2014, > 02:30:00NZDT<http://www.timeanddate.com/library/abbreviations/timezones/pacific/nzdt.html>UTC+13 > hoursCorresponding UTC (GMT)Thursday, 13 March 2014, 13:30:00 > Please find below some details about how to participate, but you can always > more info on the website of http://freeconferencecall.com > > *Conference Invite Details* Instructions*From: pierre.sm...@orrtiz.com > <pierre.sm...@orrtiz.com>* > > *Subject: * The Future of OFBiz - Open Discussion > *Date & time: * 2014-03-13 14:30 (GMT+01:00) > *Duration: * 2 hr. > > *Notes: * > > *Free Conference Call* > Conference Dial-in Number: +31 (0) 6 35205070 (Number in the Netherlands) > Participant Access Code: 779895# > > > > <http://www.freeconferencecall.com/fcci/internationalnumbers.aspx?lang=NL&altlang=EN&phonenumber=+31%20(0)%206%2035205070> > > When prompted enter the access code that has been assigned, followed by the > # key. Once connected to the conference, you will be able to talk and have > access to the touch tone commands listed below. > > > Participant Feature KeysExit - exit the callInstructions - conference > instructionsMute/Unmute - caller controlled muting > > > I hope to see you there. > > With regards > > Pierre Smits > > *ORRTIZ.COM <http://www.orrtiz.com>* > Services & Solutions for Cloud- > Based Manufacturing, Professional > Services and Retail & Trade > http://www.orrtiz.com
