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

[Jeff Waugh <jdub@perkypants.org>]

<quote who="Anthony Towns">

> > 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.".
> 
> Of course you're not. But without any actually communication with LA,
> there's not much you're going to actually be able to do.

That's what this list is for! I think you're making the mistake of thinking
that the LA committee *is* LA. They are not. They are people we elect as
trusted persons to administrate the boring organisational aspects of it and
drive new initiatives and do what we ask. *WE* are all LA.

> > 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...
> 
> It's hard to give input for things you only find out about once they're
> well and truly over. I seem to have an email in my archives to Pia from
> Feb suggesting accepting donations on behalf of other projects, and
> suggesting scholarships for Honours-level projects. I got a reply from Pia
> on the 4th, and it seems to have been discussed in the meeting of the 5th;
> though I didn't hear anything more about it.

A number of people have expressed concern over the transparency of the
committee. I've already made myself unpopular with Andrew Cowie because I
gave (what I thought was) constructive criticism on the minutes, and showed
that I was not pleased with the visibility to the community (ie. this list).

While the committee has the chief responsibility for these things, we do
too, which is why I am happy to bug them publically about these things. I
would have suggested that you mail the list publically about this issue,
sometimes public 'shaming' works wonders, although it should be used with
care and politeness. The committee certainly have had a lot on their plate,
attempting to unscrew the mistakes of the past and turn the organisation
into something active and credible, etc.

> *shrug* How much involvement and input in Linux Australia has there been
> from Queensland this year. How about WA? Do you really think the
> difference is best explained by claiming everyone in Queensland is
> uninterested, incompetent or lazy?

Uninterested? Yes. Busy? Yes. And that's fine, LA has been rocking along
without input from QLD this year. Does that negatively affect QLD? I don't
think so. What would 'more input' do for QLD in concrete terms? (Yes, much
of the work this year has been getting LA back to square one, so there was
not a huge amount of room for way-cool-active-let's-all-do-it kinds of
things that would really affect the states directly.)

- Jeff

-- 
Come to gnome.conf.au 2004!   http://www.gnome.org/~jdub/2004/gnome.conf.au/
 
            What did the sausage say to the tomato at breakfast?
               "There's not mushroom this morning, is there?"