[Members] Strengthening the Foundation Membership?

[Leon Shiman]

on Mon, 16 Oct 2006 09:55:11 -0400 Matthew Rubenstein wrote:
>
>	Each time the Foundation has an election, immediately beforehand
>there's a scramble to register new voting members, including this time.
>The Foundation also has some problems bridging the administrative
>functions to the development functions, often having to choose between
>doing only one or the other, or sometimes doing less of each than the
>community might need. Broader, more active Foundation membership could
>solve both problems, and of course many others, making the Foundation
>more productive and effective.
>
>	Candidates: do you agree? If not, do you have an alternative 
>solution, or can you explain how those are not problems? If you agree, how 
>will you help improve the foundation's membership?
>
>(C) Matthew Rubenstein
>

Matthew and Members -

I have long argued that fully internationalized, open, and comprehensive 
membership which better mirrored the actual and potential user and developer 
commmunity would greatly strengthen growth and development of X - and of the 
desktops and applications which X supports. Members and new contributors 
need then to be drawn in to specific activities, through local outreach and 
mentoring.

I believe that the "users" of X must include the end-user and ISV 
communities, and not just the "major" distributions and the "major" toolkit 
developers. X.Org must encourage and embrace active and equal participation 
from developers and end-users of all operating systems and platforms who are 
committed to supporting a common technology. All interested and committed 
members of such communities should be eligible for membership. Participation 
must be solicited and supported world-wide. 

There is no short-cut to solving the problems you pointed to. They were the 
by-product of building a new organization. The X.Org Board now handles all 
Foundation administrative duties, while the Board Members, in their day-jobs 
as employees, lead major development efforts. This burden must be better 
distributed. A broader member base and stronger leadership will contribute. 

Leon