It is my understanding that RobLa's departure was not entirely unexpected, so there were plans in place. He will be missed! But Brion and I are taking up some of his responsibilities for the dev summit, and I understand there are other folks stepping up to fill other gaps. I think those of us who know him well are trying to respect his desire for a bit of a wikibreak. If you see some task Rob's been maintaining which seems like it could use attention, I think the best thing to do right now is to pitch in and help out for a while. I strongly suspect he'll be back after a bit, and I'm hoping he'll find his gardens as well tended as we are able. --scott
On Thu, Nov 3, 2016 at 6:48 PM, Florian Schmidt < [email protected]> wrote: > Thanks Brian! > > That's exactly what this e-mail was for. I was also wondering, what > happened to him personally, however, it's more than ok and his own decision > to not say anything about it. However, like Brian wrote already, Robla had > (as far as I know) a very good standing in the community and it would be a > good communication about what happened (in any way), instead of "just" > disabling his account. > > However, this e-mail is (and wasn't at any time) to make anyone sad about > anything, and it makes me sad, that the thread resulted in this feeling for > some people :( > > Best, > Florian > > -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- > Von: Wikitech-l [mailto:[email protected]] Im > Auftrag von bawolff > Gesendet: Donnerstag, 3. November 2016 21:07 > An: Wikimedia developers <[email protected]> > Betreff: Re: [Wikitech-l] What happened to RobLa? > > Robla obviously deserves his privacy if he wants that. However I think its > rather natural for people to wonder "What happened" when an employee who is > as much in the public spotlight as robla is, suddenly and unexpectedly > leaves. > > Obviously just because it is "natural" doesn't mean we deserve answers. I > think Wes's short email was sufficient in terms of answering the what > happened question. However, simply putting a global lock on someone's > account (Which was the state of things before this > thread) is not good communication and bound to raise eyebrows. > > There is also the more pragmatic question of how Robla's responsibilities > will be transferred. Robla did a lot for MediaWiki, and transitions are > scary. Transitions with no information are even scarier. How will Robla's > initiatives be carried forward? Is the architecture committee mature enough > to continue on purely its own steam without Robla pushing it forward? How > does this affect the "vision" for MediaWiki (emphasis on MediaWiki, not > Wikimedia)? Will development of Wikimedia's technology further devolve into > independent fiefdoms without Robla balancing the architecture needs of > different groups? All these concerns are in my mind, and I think the minds > of others. It would be nice to get some reassurance about what is going to > happen next. > > -- > Brian > [To be 100% clear, posting with my volunteer hat firmly on] > > On Thu, Nov 3, 2016 at 4:17 PM, Jonathan Morgan <[email protected]> > wrote: > > +1 Petr. This thread makes me sad and uncomfortable. > > > > - J > > > > On Thu, Nov 3, 2016 at 9:03 AM, Toby Negrin <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > >> Thank you Petr. Well said! > >> -Toby > >> > >> On Thu, Nov 3, 2016 at 2:39 AM, Petr Bena <[email protected]> wrote: > >> > >> > Hello, > >> > > >> > I don't like to sound like a bad guy, but I really find it quite > >> > inappropriate to discuss this sort of stuff on a public mailing list. > >> > This really is a personal matter. If he didn't post any dramatical > >> > announcement perhaps he wanted to "leave quietly"? > >> > > >> > You know, people sometimes do this sort of stuff for very personal > >> > reasons, they just don't want to discuss with public, and who > >> > knows, maybe he would return back one day? He wouldn't be first to > >> > do that :) Or maybe he is going to stick around as a volunteer? > >> > Let's be optimistic! > >> > > >> > If you really want to know the details, you can always ask him > >> > directly. Fortunately he is not dead, so no need to mourn him. As > >> > an employee of WMF, he was always very friendly and extremely > >> > useful, so indeed I /do/ hope he will stay with us, at least as a > volunteer. > >> > > >> > On Thu, Nov 3, 2016 at 10:16 AM, Tilman Bayer > >> > <[email protected]> > >> > wrote: > >> > > On Tue, Nov 1, 2016 at 3:54 AM, Federico Leva (Nemo) < > >> [email protected] > >> > > > >> > > wrote: > >> > > > >> > >> As a reminder on goodbyes, WMF HR used to announce everyone's > >> > >> last day > >> > at > >> > >> https://identi.ca/wikimediaatwork (can't take more than a couple > >> > >> minutes); then the announcements became monthly, then quarterly; > >> > >> then > >> we > >> > >> lost this courtesy as well https://meta.wikimedia.org/wik > >> > >> i/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_reports#Staff . > >> > > > >> > > > >> > > As already noted higher up on that talk page, that's a > misconception. > >> > > Timely updates now happen on the WMF wiki instead, where RobLa's > >> > departure > >> > > had already been recorded by HR before you sent this email: > >> > > https://wikimediafoundation.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Staff_ > >> > > and_ > >> > > contractors&action=history > >> > > > >> > > > >> > >> > >> > > > >> > > > >> > > -- > >> > > Tilman Bayer > >> > > Senior Analyst > >> > > Wikimedia Foundation > >> > > IRC (Freenode): HaeB > >> > > _______________________________________________ > >> > > Wikitech-l mailing list > >> > > [email protected] > >> > > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l > >> > > >> > _______________________________________________ > >> > Wikitech-l mailing list > >> > [email protected] > >> > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l > >> > > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Wikitech-l mailing list > >> [email protected] > >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l > >> > > > > > > > > -- > > Jonathan T. Morgan > > Senior Design Researcher > > Wikimedia Foundation > > User:Jmorgan (WMF) > > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Jmorgan_(WMF)> > > _______________________________________________ > > Wikitech-l mailing list > > [email protected] > > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l > > _______________________________________________ > Wikitech-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l > > > _______________________________________________ > Wikitech-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l > -- (http://cscott.net) _______________________________________________ Wikitech-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l
