Re: [Linux-aus] State representation on the board

[David Lloyd <lloy0076@adam.com.au>]

Anthony,

> > Whilst it would be nice to have a
> > person on the committee from each state and territory, 
> 
> It'd be more than merely "nice". It's very difficult to participate in a
> community if you can't have face-to-face chats with the decision makers.

For some, yes. But I am a veteran of making sure everyone knows what I
think...

> Well, that depends. Given the nominations we've had, to give as many
> states a rep as possible, that'd mean we need an officer from Sydney,
> Melbourne and Perth; and ordinary members from each of Adelaide, Brisbane
> and Canberra. Electing, say, Anand or Jason King as an ordinary member
> might be beneficial, but it'd come at the cost of an entire state's
> involvement in LA.

If noone from SA gets elected to Linux Australia, this won't mean that
Michael or I (to take two examples - and I use Michael as an example because
I know that I can speak for him in this) will suddenly allow SA to not be
involved in LA. That is just silly; if you need proof we've both just shown
incredible dedication to LCA 2004, him more so [don't let him convince you
otherwise] and we're not about to go "Oh, so SA has not LA reps so we're
going to sulk.".

> But if you did have seven Sydney-siders on the board, how do you think
> you, in Adelaide, would get involved? Presumably Adelaide wasn't the
> winner of the 2005 l.c.a, so you won't be doing very much related to that.
> If you're lucky, there might be an LA rep at one of your LUG meetings
> in the year for you to chat to, if you're not (like Brisbane wasn't),
> there won't be. If you're like me, you might try emailing one of the exec
> members you met at l.c.a, then eventually lose interest because you can't
> really keep up with what's happening, and nothing's happening locally.
> 
> For example, here's my summary of what LA's been doing over the past year.
> 
> 	* Supported linux.conf.au
> 	* Supported linmagau
> 	* Sent Pia off to foreign parts for some reason
> 	* Started a project for giving small amounts of money to some
> 	  free software projects that didn't really get anywhere
> 	* Considered accepting donations on behalf of some free software
> 	  projects but didn't get anywhere at all
> 	* Posted links to a bunch of news articles on the mailing list
> 	* Had some friendly chats with AUUG, establishing a good working
> 	  relationship
> 
> Personally I expect people who've had a chat with Leon or Pia about
> Linux Australia anytime in the past few months could give a much better
> summary than that. Unfortunately, if you're not in Sydney or Perth,
> you don't get much chance to do that.

To be horridly fair, that's as much a reflection on your investigative
skills as well. And what input have you given to any of them...

> In summary: we've got a choice, we can either have local involvement in
> Linux Australia in six Australian capital cities, or not.

AHEM

I understand what you are saying but that example is a tad silly in my
opinion.

> Personally, I think as a first step we should increase the number of
> ordinary ctte members to perhaps six or seven, so we don't have to make
> choices like "drop Anand from the committee, or don't have any involvement
> from one of ACT/South Australia/Queensland for a year".

A good suggestion :-)

DSL

--
"Theoden is a kindly old man. Denethor is another sort, proud
 and subtle, a man of far greater lineage and power, though
 he is not a king." [Gandalf the White to Peregrin Took]

For this week and the next, consider me as Denethor; if you
wish the Steward's kindness, then make no haste to insult him, 
or the lands under his watch.