[Linux-aus] On Perspective

[ac]

hear hear

On Tue, 7 Jun 2016 16:55:04 +1000
Matthew Cengia <mattcen at gmail.com> wrote:

> +1
> 
> I think "perspective," "constructive," "volunteers," and "importance"
> are the key words I take from this email. I don't think there's
> anything I can say that you haven't already articulated, Hugh. Well
> done. To all LA volunteers.
> 
> On Tue, Jun 7, 2016 at 4:46 PM, Hugh Blemings <hugh at blemings.org>
> wrote:
> 
> > Hi,
> >
> > I confess a degree of regret on having to write this and that the
> > matter of the VPAC events have taken the turn they have.
> >
> > For that matter I also dearly wish more of our membership would
> > reflect on whether the email they're about to send will move the
> > commons of Linux and Free/Open Source Software forward, or merely
> > make them feel better in the moment.
> >
> > In this I do not refer alone to the current threads on the Linux-aus
> > mailing list but rather the general trend over nearly two decades
> > for an undue percentage of the traffic on the linux-aus list to be
> > griping/trolling and then - often left to volunteers - defending
> > actions, justifying decisions and so forth.
> >
> > This latter all too often _literally_ consuming hours of discussion,
> > debate and checking to ensure a measured and appropriate response or
> > solution to the crisis du jour.
> >
> > And so to perspective...
> >
> > Linux Australia and its membership do fantastic and, often,
> > important work.  Much of it is unseen, most of the time things done
> > right, fun is had, code is written, people learn new things, a
> > career is started, perhaps even a career advanced and so forth.
> > All great stuff.  Also, for most of us, the sole motivation for
> > being involved as volunteers.
> >
> > But I'm struck that we sometimes lose perspective about the
> > importance, in the grander scheme of things, of what we do.
> >
> > To start, I was, frankly, a bit annoyed that our infrastructure went
> > offline precipitously but upon hearing the full story, once our
> > very able admin team had extinguished most of the fires, this
> > annoyance all but dissipated entirely.
> >
> > But the thing that really allowed me, for want of a better term, to
> > find peace with the situation was the realisation that actually -
> > it didn't really matter.
> >
> > Nobody died, no one lost revenue, no LA events were dramatically
> > impacted.  What we do is fantastic, important and useful, but it
> > isn't (and probably shouldn't) be _mission critical_.
> >
> > This is not to say for a moment that we shouldn't take our
> > responsibilities or the work undertaken seriously, but rather that
> > we should weigh the matter at hand in a broader light.
> >
> > Please - reflect and decide if an email that will ultimately come
> > down to the criticism of an organisation, a team or an individual
> > is warranted, or could perhaps be written in a more constructive
> > tone.
> >
> > Last time I checked we were, at the end of the day, trying to
> > accomplish largely the same set of fantastic, important and fun,
> > but probably not mission critical things...  Perhaps then space to
> > allow our interactions online and in person to better reflect these
> > shared goals ?
> >
> > Thank you for reading,
> >
> > Kind Regards,
> > Hugh Blemings
> > President, Linux Australia
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > linux-aus mailing list
> > linux-aus at lists.linux.org.au
> > http://lists.linux.org.au/mailman/listinfo/linux-aus
> >
> 
> 
>