[ogb-discuss] voting and the electorate

[Stephen Lau]

Nope, that's exactly what I've said in the past and believe firmly.  I 
think there are many technical experts who have no desire to be involved 
in the politics of voting.

cheers,
steve

Jim Grisanzio wrote:
> One of the things that came up on the OGB call today was voting and the 
> characteristic of the OpenSolaris electorate. We wanted to put this on 
> list for discussion. This is also related to how people become 
> contributors and/or core contributors under a potential community re-org.
>
> I support the notion that in order to become a voting member someone has 
> to assert they want the status. Go register to vote, in other words 
> (using the US process as an example). So, in OpenSolaris, that could 
> mean someone asserts they want to be a core contributor and provides 
> substantiation of contribution, or someone else offers a person as a 
> core contributor with substantiation and the person accepts.
>
> However, there are many people participating in the community who are 
> /not/ contributors or core contributors and have no desire to be. That's 
> fine. It could be a personal choice or cultural characteristic, and we 
> as a community need to accommodate this. In other words, just because 
> you don't vote or participate in cross-community discussions about 
> governance issues doesn't mean you are not a valuable member (small "m") 
> of the community. I also think it's fine that community leaders go out 
> and actively engage people in governance because that's good community 
> building and a way to educate people around the world about how the 
> community functions at its core. The more options for participation 
> people have the better.
>
> My view is based on the repeated experience of going out and trying to 
> make voters out of people who may not be interested in governance. I'd 
> rather build community by getting people involved and contributing for 
> peer recognition at a local or global scale, and than out of that pool 
> of people a voting block will naturally emerge.
>
> Anyone feel strongly either way? Did I miss anything from the discussion?
>
> Jim
>
>   


-- 
stephen lau | stevel at opensolaris.org | www.whacked.net