[Linux-aus] Running for Linux Australia Council

[James Turnbull]

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Hi - I'm James Turnbull and I am standing for Linux Australia
President on a broad platform with a group of like travellers:

President           James Turnbull
Vice President    Lindsay Holmwood
Secretary            Peter Lieverdink
Treasurer           John Ferlito

Ordinary Committee Members
    Alice Boxhall
    Elspeth Thorne

We're not a political party - we're a bunch of Linux and open source
people who think they can contribute to Linux Australia.  Between us
we've written code, managed infrastructure, run small (and medium)
businesses in the open source world, organised LCAs, run user groups
and generally been passionate about Linux and open source.  We
believe that Linux Australia has a big role to play in advocating
Linux and open source, running linux.conf.au (the best Linux
conference in the world...) and representing the interests of the
Linux community in the region.  We also agree on a broad platform:

   1. Transparency - ensure the Council and its activities are
transparent to the community
          * Good communication via the wiki and mailing list
          * Seek feedback from the community on issues and decisions
          * Strong and regular reporting - Financial, events,
progress towards milestones
   2. Governance - ensure good financial governance
          * Investigate engaging an accountant/book-keeper to manage
Linux Australia's finances
          * Develop clear and simple policy and process around
insurance, payments and grants
          * Develop good governance and structures between Linux
Australia and the LCA committee
          * Investigate on-going 'LCA Sponsorship' sub-committee,
separate from LCA team
   3. Mandate
          * Review the mandate of Linux Australia and determine if
it is meeting the needs of the FOSS community in the region
          * Determine whether the membership is actually
representative of the "Linux community"
   4. Leadership & Advocacy
          * Make Linux Australia a well-known voice in debate on IT
issues in Australia
          * Extend advocacy activities on legal and policy issues
that concern and impact the FOSS community in the region
   5. Community
          * Reach out to and collaborate with other similarly minded
organisations e.g. LinuxChix, OSIA, IIA, SAGE, etc
          * Endeavour to engage with and expand the community
through events and out-reach programs
          * Become more involved with spreading the Open Source
message at a School and University level
   6. Cross-regional
          * Make Linux Australia a truly regional organisation and
increase our involvement with New Zealand and Oceania.


Of the platform my particular focus and interest is governance,
transparency and reporting and I am keenly interested in exploring
the Linux Australia's mandate and role in advocacy in the community.

On a personal level, I live in Melbourne and have been an Linux (and
open source software) user since the mid-1990s - currently I'm
probably best known for being the Release Manager for the Puppet
project. Professionally, I've worked in the IT industry for nearly
20 years and currently specialise in information security. I have
experience managing large projects and teams, have strong
communications skills, understand budgets and know enough about
accounting to be dangerous.  In the last five years I have written
four books on open source technologies, was involved in organising
linux.conf.au 2008, sat on the Linux Australia Council in 2008, was
a sponsor of BarCamp Melbourne, and generally wish there were 28
hours in every day.

Regards

James Turnbull
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