[ogb-discuss] Bigger thoughts - what about refactoring OS.o? (was Distribution Community Group Creation)

[John Plocher]

Shawn Walker wrote:
> ... the proposed Distribution Community Group ...

I am concerned that the (private-to-the-OGB) discussions
with Sun Re: OS.o may impact this area, but since I have
no real first hand knowledge, it is just a concern and not
an objection....

Having said that, I think there is a larger proposal hiding
here.  I am beginning to believe that we need to refactor the
community at large and redo the constitution in significant
ways:

[This stuff is still churning in my brain - consider these
following items to be brainstorming ideas and not final
proposals or opinions - I am interested in your collective
thoughts, and expect this all to evolve significantly before
it gets to an actionable form]

The current OS.o community isn't working as envisioned,
somewhat due to the mismatched needs and perspectives that
are being forced into an one-size-fits-all governance
process, and somewhat due to an expectation mismatch
between the various players.

Keith's email about "consix" helped clarify some of my
thoughts, though to be fair, they were there before his
email went out - they are all my own fault, this time :-)

I agree with his key point, though: the idea that the
current "kernel.org" perspective isn't really compatible
ideologically with the "Distro-focused Indiana" one.
The rest of this email is an attempt to figure out what
a "new world" might look like.

Since the various different perspectives of "what *is*
OpenSolaris" are core to today's conflicts, we should
consider breaking up the the current OS.o mega-community
and website into 4 somewhat independent areas.  What
follows is a first stab at articulating those areas:

	A New User download and try it portal/group,
	devoted to meeting the needs of the "I just heard
	about OpenSolaris and I want to learn more, and to
	possibly try it out" crowd.  This is probably
	an area where the current Advocacy CG would take
	a leadership position.  It is extremely likely
	that Sun's Indiana-based distro would be the
	focus here.

	An OpenSolaris Customization portal/group, focused
	on add-on software, themes, wallpaper, alternative
	distros and the like.  There is no equivalent OS.o
	CG in this area today, but think Blastwave,
	SunFreeware, apt, SFW, alternative distros, ...

	An OpenSolaris Distro portal/group, focused on
	producing and delivering alternative distros
	that the Customization and New User groups can
	consume.  Shawn's CG, the Indiana team, even
	independent distros like Nexenta, Schillix and
	Sun's SX/SXDE should all be able to find a
	welcoming home here.  Hopefully, the various
	best practices and tools that are developed
	here would flow down into the Consolidations
	group, below, for potential incorporation into
	the foundations of the system.

	An OpenSolaris Consolidations portal/group, where
	the developers of the ON, X, GNOME, ..., ...
	consolidations do their development work.  The
	output of this group goes into various repositories
	that are "harvested" by the various distros
	above...

Only the latter really needs the complexities of the OGB,
the constitution, and the whathaveyou that Sun brings to
the conversation.  The rest should be able to get by as
simple, independent, lightweight open communities that
self-govern themselves however they see fit (for example,
each would be a good fit as a CG in todays OS.o world).

Thoughts?

    -John