[Linux-aus] Election update - nominations close in 17 hours!
Pia Smith
pia at linux.org.au
Fri Jan 7 13:12:03 UTC 2005
Hi all,
below is the full dump from the election page on who nominated who, and
who has accepted their nominations (the actual candidates for the
election). There isn't much time left to nominate, and there aren't many
people who have accepted their nominations, so get in fast! :) Also feel
free to start posting questions to the candidates if you have any. Posting
to candidates and cc-ing linux-aus is preferable.
Cheers,
Pia
Nominations
===========
President
* Stewart Smith (stewart at linux.org.au) was nominated by:
o Michael Still (mikal at stillhq.com)
He's done a good job of Vice President over the past couple of
years... We should promote him. ;)
o Jonathan Oxer (jon at oxer.com.au)
o Arjen Lentz (arjen at mysql.com)
Will do a fine job
o Leon Brooks (leon at cyberknights.com.au)
Did fine as Pres of Vice, has contributed code as well.
* Pia Smith (greebo at pipka.org) was nominated by:
o Arjen Lentz (arjen at mysql.com)
o Aguido Davis (horatio at computer.org)
"Sometimes it's better to light a flamethrower than curse the
darkness."
o Leon Brooks (leon at cyberknights.com.au)
Yes, I realise she's not going to run this year (our loss) but
this nomination is one way to help make it plain that we value
Pia's contribution of enthusiasm and care - with just a dash
of whimsy - which has begun to make so much of the regrowth
inspired by the ctte which pulled the LCA2003 revolution.
* Anthony Towns (aj at azure.humbug.org.au) was nominated by:
o Pia Smith (greebo at pipka.org)
AJ is a well respected member of the community. He is used to
a role of leadership, level-headed, diplomatic and has an
excellent understanding of the Australian Linux and FOSS
community. He has been an active member of the community this
year with FTA and associated issues, as well as a great source
of reference for the committee. I think AJ would do a great
job in this role, and trust him to maintain and grow the
transparency, openness and usefullness of Linux Australia. He
also has previous experience organising LCA.
* Michael Davies (michael at msdavies.net) was nominated by:
o Michael Still (mikal at stillhq.com)
Michael is currently out of AU, but he'll be in town in time
for Canberra's LCA. He's been a good contributor to LA in the
past, and cares a lot about Open Source, the FTA, Software
Patents and a bunch of stuff like that. He did a good job
organizing Adelaide's LCA too.
o Steven Hanley (sjh at cs.anu.edu.au)
Michael has a balanced and easy going manner to dealing with
linux related issues, he can work well with many people.
Michael also has an excellent understanding of what is
involved with running linux.conf.au which is still the primary
mission of Linux Australia.
o Leon Brooks (leon at cyberknights.com.au)
Has exceptional strength and integrity, plus just the right
amount of healthy cynicism. Lacks much of Pia's lively
enthusiasm but easily makes up for that with in other
personality traits, and most assuredly does not lack
determination.
* Jonathan Oxer (jon at oxer.com.au) was nominated by:
o Anand Kumria (akumria at acm.org)
Jon has run the Debian mini-conf at LCA for many years. Debian
developers, by all accounts, are even harder to herd than
cats. Jon has done this successfully and it speaks to his
abilities in this area. I believe he would be someone who
could "encourage the enthusiams" of the community effectively
o Michael Davies (michael at msdavies.net)
Jon is a nice guy, but that's not why you should vote for him.
He knows his stuff, being a Debian geek, he is able to get
along with lots of people and is enthusiastic. From where I
sit he'd be a great choice for President.
o Mark Tearle (mark at tearle.com)
My first experience of Jon was LCA2003. He's self organised
and motivated - his level of organisation of the Debian
mini-conf there made an impression on me. He can talk as well
as do!
Vice President
* Stewart Smith (stewart at linux.org.au) was nominated by:
o Michael Still (mikal at stillhq.com)
He's done a good job in this role for the last couple of
years... He would be good again.
o Jonathan Oxer (jon at oxer.com.au)
o Leon Brooks (leon at cyberknights.com.au)
Does an absolutely top job of Vice. Has the enthusiasm and
positivity to support a steady Pres very well. Remaining vegan
in a busy position also says good things about both Stewart's
organisational skills and his determination.
* Pia Smith (greebo at pipka.org) was nominated by:
o Ryan Verner (xfesty at computeraddictions.com.au)
As the president of LCA the past few years, she's done some
fantastic things with the team and I'd love to see her
involvement continue.
o Bruce Badger (bbadger at openskills.com)
Pia has said that she is not looking to be president this
time, but I hope that she will be willing to add energy and
continuity to LA as VP. Fingers crossed :-)
* Michael Davies (michael at msdavies.net) was nominated by:
o Michael Still (mikal at stillhq.com)
As per presidential nomination.
o Steven Hanley (sjh at cs.anu.edu.au)
Michael has a balanced and easy going manner to dealing with
linux related issues, he can work well with many people.
Michael also has an excellent understanding of what is
involved with running linux.conf.au which is still the primary
mission of Linux Australia.
o Mark Tearle (mark at tearle.com)
* Jonathan Oxer (jon at oxer.com.au) was nominated by:
o Stewart Smith (stewart at linux.org.au)
o Leon Brooks (leon at cyberknights.com.au)
Would make an excellent stabiliser for an energetic Pres.
* Jason King (pizza at netspace.net.au) was nominated by:
o Jason King (pizza at netspace.net.au)
I've had a go at helping to run LUV for a few years , now I'd
like a go at running LA.
* Kim Oldfield (linuxorgau at oldfield.wattle.id.au) was nominated by:
o Arjen Lentz (arjen at mysql.com)
Kim Oldfield has done excellent work for LUV in Melbourne, he
is also level-headed and speaks well. Good communication with
geeks as well as non-geeks. Very important for this job, I
think.
Secretary
* Anthony Towns (aj at azure.humbug.org.au) was nominated by:
o Mark Tearle (mark at tearle.com)
AJ is remarkably level headed, diligent and able to express
himself clearly.
o Arjen Lentz (arjen at mysql.com)
o Michael Davies (michael at msdavies.net)
AJ has enthusiasm and isn't just a yes man .
* Jonathan Oxer (jon at oxer.com.au) was nominated by:
o Pia Smith (greebo at pipka.org)
Jon is an active member of the community, who participates
regularly. He knows the community quite well, and is even in
his approach. I think Jon would be great on the committee in
any capacity, however he would certainly be a strong
secretary. I would hope whoever gets secretary ensures they
maintain a high and transparent level of visibility of the
organisation to the community.
o Leon Brooks (leon at cyberknights.com.au)
Jon is very steady and conscientious, which are very important
attributes for a secretary. Also seconding Pia's words.
* Andrew Cowie (andrew at operationaldynamics.com) was nominated by:
o Stewart Smith (stewart at linux.org.au)
Andrew has contributed a lot to LA over the past two years. I
would like to see him continue in his role as I believe there
is more he can contribute to LA. Enthusiasm for efficiently
and sensibly doing things, experience with organisations and
jumping out of perfectly good aircraft will continue to make
him a valuable team member.
o Jonathan Oxer (jon at oxer.com.au)
From the minute Andrew first arrived in Australia he jumped
boots and all into LA and has been radiating enthusiasm ever
since. Sensible approach to getting things done: I'd
definitely like to see his input continue.
o Leon Brooks (leon at cyberknights.com.au)
Andrew already knows the job, brings with him extensive talent
for blazing a trail through red tape and paperwork, and has
plenty of energy.
Treasurer
* Mark Tearle (mark at tearle.com) was nominated by:
o Pia Smith (greebo at pipka.org)
Mark has done an excellent job in this position, and has made
significant headway with the organising and transparency of
the LA books. Rock on Mark :)
o Tony Breeds (tony at bakeyournoodle.com)
Mark is doing a great job. I think the continuity of him
retaining this position for another 12 months will be most
beneficial to LA
o Michael Davies (michael at msdavies.net)
Mark's gone above and beyond in 2004 handling the finances. I
can't believe someone who isn't an accountant could enjoy or
do such a good job.
o Stewart Smith (stewart at linux.org.au)
Stellar job so far. Looking forward to see the product of his
continuing work.
o Steven Hanley (sjh at cs.anu.edu.au)
Mark has put a lot of effort into making LA's funds management
more open/obvious and agreeable. Mark has also worked very
well in ensuring linux.conf.au and other LA initiatives have a
clear understanding of roles with respect to money handling. I
strongly support Mark as treasurer.
o Leon Brooks (leon at cyberknights.com.au)
Knows his stuff, positive attitude, very careful and has done
an excellent job so far. Would nominate him elsewhere too, but
he's simply too valuable as the money man. (-: On top of all
of this he's Western Australian, what more could you want? :-)
Ordinary Committee Members
* Stewart Smith (stewart at linux.org.au) was nominated by:
o Michael Still (mikal at stillhq.com)
Continuity with the past is good...
o Mark Tearle (mark at tearle.com)
o Leon Brooks (leon at cyberknights.com.au)
This is a catch-all nomination to help ensure that we don't
lose Stewart if he somehow lucks out on an Executive seat.
* Pia Smith (greebo at pipka.org) was nominated by:
o Ryan Verner (xfesty at computeraddictions.com.au)
As the president of LCA the past few years, she's done some
fantastic things with the team and I'd love to see her
involvement continue.
o Leon Brooks (leon at cyberknights.com.au)
Seconding everything Ryan has to say, and having Pia formally
involved on ctte for at least a few months would greatly help
continuity.
* Anthony Towns (aj at azure.humbug.org.au) was nominated by:
o Stewart Smith (stewart at linux.org.au)
Has provided valuable input over the years and would continue
to do so on the committee. Would also help with relations with
UGs in QLD.
o Mark Tearle (mark at tearle.com)
* Michael Davies (michael at msdavies.net) was nominated by:
o Mark Tearle (mark at tearle.com)
Michael would make a great asset to any team.
o Stewart Smith (stewart at linux.org.au)
Michael has provided great input over the past year as part of
his role on the LA ctte. I think it would be great to have him
on again. #include <reasons others have mentioned>
o Leon Brooks (leon at cyberknights.com.au)
This is a catch-all nomination to help ensure that we don't
lose Michael if he somehow lucks out on an Executive seat.
* Geoffrey Bennett (g at netcraft.com.au) was nominated by:
o Pia Smith (greebo at pipka.org)
Geoffrey is very level headed and an active member of the
LinuxSA user group. He is used to a leadership position in the
community, and has shown he is level-headed in difficult
situations. I think Geoffrey could bring a lot to Linux
Australia. He has also been involved in running LCA.
o Michael Still (mikal at stillhq.com)
Anyone with more linux boxes than me must be good... Geoff
helped run LCA Adelaide, and is a well known contributor to
the community.
o Ryan Verner (xfesty at computeraddictions.com.au)
Geoffrey has demonstrated effective judgement, is hugely
motivated, and has the right mindset for the job due to heavy
involvement with OSS organisations (LCA/LinuxSA organiser, et
al), all of which he's done incredibly competently. Seconded
here :-)
o Michael Davies (michael at msdavies.net)
Geoffrey has a great sense of right and wrong in the free and
open-source software world. He has proved over the last decade
that he has good organisation skills by running a LUG
singlehandedly and being a core organiser for Linux.Conf.Au
2004. And anyone who writes filesystems and VOIP applications
in Perl qualifies on both the technical and wackyness scales.
Geoffrey for committee member! Geoffrey for committee member!
Geoffrey for committee member!
* Jonathan Oxer (jon at oxer.com.au) was nominated by:
o Stewart Smith (stewart at linux.org.au)
For the same reasons he has been nominated and the same
reasons in his spiel for President. I think Jon would be a
valuable member of the committee
* Conrad Parker (conrad at metadecks.org) was nominated by:
o Mark Tearle (mark at tearle.com)
* Jason King (pizza at netspace.net.au) was nominated by:
o Jason King (pizza at netspace.net.au)
o Chris Deigan (chris at deigan.id.au)
Jason's work to step-up and continue the LCA2004 proceedings
CD was fantastic, and I think Jason would be a good member in
working on projects and getting things done - a must in any
organization.
o Michael Davies (michael at msdavies.net)
Jason is someone who gets the job done, and committee members
are the work-horses of the organisation. He saw a need in
helping get the LCA2004 CDs done, he volunteered and he
followed thru.
* Rusty Russell (rusty at rustcorp.com.au) was nominated by:
o Chris Deigan (chris at deigan.id.au)
o Stewart Smith (stewart at linux.org.au)
It's important that Rusty's work on Copyright and Patent
issues be fully supported by the community and LA. Having him
on the ctte is one way we can do this.
o Mark Tearle (mark at tearle.com)
Rusty did some excellent work vis the FTA this year
o Leon Brooks (leon at cyberknights.com.au)
Rusty really is unique. (-: As well as boundless enthusiasm,
an amazingly broad background of general knowledge and a
special talent for cutting through the bull when required and
a wicked sense of humour, Rusty would also bring bonus "icon
power" credibility to LA.
* Andrew Cowie (andrew at operationaldynamics.com) was nominated by:
o Stewart Smith (stewart at linux.org.au)
Andrew would be a valuable member of the team. I want him on
the committee.
o Jonathan Oxer (jon at oxer.com.au)
For the same reasons as he has been nominated for secretary.
* Bruce Badger (bbadger at openskills.com) was nominated by:
o Pia Smith (greebo at pipka.org)
Bruse is very sensible and has been involved in many Open
Source committees and projects. He also started Open Skills,
and has worked with LA on policy making. I think he'd make an
excellent contribution to LA.
o Mark Tearle (mark at tearle.com)
* Alan Harper (alan at aussiegeek.net) was nominated by:
o Alan Harper (alan at aussiegeek.net)
I am nominating myself to be on the committee as I am
interested in helping to bring Linux out in to the country (I
live in Bundaberg, QLD)
o Pia Smith (greebo at pipka.org)
New blood is always good for an organisation, particularly
enthusiastic blood. I'd like to think that Linux Australia can
facilitate bringing Linux to more and more people in Australia
when the community utilises LA, so good luck with your aim
Alan.
* Tony Breeds (tony at bakeyournoodle.com) was nominated by:
o Michael Still (mikal at stillhq.com)
Involved with organizing Perth LCA, and now treasurer for
Canberra LCA. Would provide good liason with Canberra LCA.
o Steven Hanley (sjh at cs.anu.edu.au)
Tony is a sexy man and I would trust him with my life (similar
to Micahel Still's 2004 election platform), also he a
linux.conf.au 2003, currently is the linux.conf.au 2005
treasurer. Tony will have copious spare time to commit to
Linux Australia once the April conference is over also.
Candidates
==========
President
* Jonathan Oxer (jon at oxer.com.au)
Being a part of the Linux community for many years and Debian in
particular has given me an acute awareness of the issues relating to
coordinating people with different backgrounds and objectives. I see
Linux Australia as the focal point for an amazing variety of people
with equally varied interests and personalities who have cooperated
(with varying degrees of success!) to achieve great things. The key
to continued success for Linux Australia is to smooth the way for
this cooperation to continue and to encourage people to pursue their
areas of enthusiasm rather than attempt to force them into areas
where they have no interest. In this sense LA is an enabler that
provides an identity and an infrastructure for a variety of discrete
projects and the local Linux community as a whole. Providing this
infrastructure is critical to the continued relevance of LA, and
that is where some of the most important work for the LA committee
comes in. Having run an IT business for more than ten years I've
come to appreciate the difficulty of balancing a tight budget and
lack of human resources with the need to do things properly the
first time in order to save money in the long term. My tasks as
President would be to encourage and facilitate the rapidly growing
Linux community in Australia, to provide our community with a
recognizable identity, and to smooth the way for both small and
large projects including LCA through a transparent and efficient
organisational infrastructure.
* Stewart Smith (stewart at linux.org.au)
Given the growth and success of LA it has become apparent that the
the way the managing committee is run needs to be changed. We need
to become effective in concentrating volunteer effort. Committee
members have taken a lot and they have been getting burnt out.
Reaching out and engaging others in the community is crucial to the
future of LA. This includes improving communication with conference
organisers, the community at large and inside the committee itself.
Several specific tactics I plan include: reducing the number of
formal committee meetings (reducing administrative burden),
implementing efficient ways to decrease the length of meetings while
increasing the amount achieved, implementing a better way to track
tasks that we want to achieve and the progress made on them,
starting informal conference calls to help co-ordinate projects,
committee thoughts (so that everyone is on the same page) and
community participation. Last but not least, it is the main goal of
LA to make sure that linux.conf.au runs and is a success. For those
who don't know: Stewart lives in Melbourne, breathes code, has been
VP of LA for two years and works for MySQL AB.
Vice President
* Stewart Smith (stewart at linux.org.au)
See presidential spiel
* Jonathan Oxer (jon at oxer.com.au)
Please see spiel for the President position.
* Pia Smith (greebo at pipka.org)
Having recieved some concern about my leaving the LA committee and
presidential role, I realised I can further contribute to LA,
especially to ensure a smooth transition and continuation of the
transparency and reporting processes put into place in the last two
years. I have enjoyed serving the community and would be honored to
continue to do so. I offer to the community 4 main personal aims for
the year should I be re-elected: 1) The full documentation of the LA
and LCA procedures and expectations. Through engaging the
communities feedback we can re-assess the role of LA, and what else
needs to be put in place so LA can better facilitate community
projects. By having a common understanding of LCA and the roles and
responsibilities therein, I believe we can also simplify that
process for future LCAs. 2) The continuation of running the Open
Source Forums, of which we ran one in December 2004. I plan to run a
few more legally focused ones (anti-circumvention and FTA), as well
as some general ones (Open Source business methodologies and Linux
on the desktop to name a few). The last Forum "Software Patents" was
a huge success and we had great feedback. 3) Further promoting the
Grant Proposal Scheme to help out Australian Open Source projects
and events. I believe this has been under-utilised, mainly through a
lack of concentrated effort. 4) Better establishing the Linux
Australia Press group for easier press releases, and to be more
easily used by the community for projects and concerns.
Secretary
* Anthony Towns (aj at azure.humbug.org.au)
My aim is to ensure LA's existing projects get all the support they
want and to find new projects that can benefit from LA's assistance.
Treasurer
* Mark Tearle (mark at tearle.com)
To continue my efforts of this year.
Ordinary Committee Members
* Tony Breeds (tony at bakeyournoodle.com)
If elected my goal as OCM would be to support the rest of the
committee, the wider Australian Linux community and (for the first
3-4 months) liaise with the LCA2005 team
* Stewart Smith (stewart at linux.org.au)
See presidential spiel.
* Jason King (pizza at netspace.net.au)
Hi. As mentioned by michael , I helped with the LCA 2004 CD , I'm
currently the education officer for LA , and I was previously the
president and vice president of LUV (Linux Users of Victoria). I'm
sure I can help the new committee with tasks, and keep them free to
do the important things for everyone for the next year.
* Pia Smith (greebo at pipka.org)
See Vice President spiel.
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