Sorry State [Was: NLD10 and GNOME]

<quote who="Dan Winship">

> Two words: "bike shed"[1]. Or actually, "stop energy"[2] works too. Your
> pick.

This is a very sorry state of affairs for GNOME. But it is not only Novell
and its employees who have adopted this commons-sapping, community-tearing,
morally and intellectually lazy approach to open design and development in
GNOME.

In contributing organisations, it is rationalised as a faster approach, a
way to avoid massive discussions about inanities, and top of the list in
these modern times, a way to avoid "design by committee" or "stop energy".
How on Earth *do* we manage design out in the open? It is easier to avoid
that question, in the name of getting things done.

Outside the contributing organisations, it's appeased as something we have
to accept to get the cool stuff, and a side-effect of our ability to involve
contributing organisations, who have their own priorities. It sounds a lot
like, "don't bite the hand that feeds you", whether that hand is delivering
cool drops of code, or your pay packet.

But ultimately, this is *killing our community*.

And it must be fought.

- Jeff

-- 
II OSWC: Malaga, Spain             http://www.opensourceworldconference.com/
 
   "You put on the pants, and the pants start telling you what to do." -
                                    Bono