Deep breath now.
OK! Yes, part of the problem here is a lack of understanding where each
of us is coming from and more collaboration/communication will fix
that. We should really talk, one on one. Electronic communication is
too open to interpretation.
I get the "should have handed it off" suggestion. And I would have if I
could have found somebody who would stick with it. A temporary transfer
without some plan for coordination would be worse than nothing IMHO. So
in late May when I had this unusual convergence of unexpected
interruptions that got in the way of my original plan, I was reluctant
to hand it off and, in retrospect, I should have. Ever commit to a few
deadlines and then miss them due to unforeseen circumstances? If not,
you are living a charmed life.... The logjam for me has moved
downstream. My biggest project is a book I am writing but it is all
about open source so overlaps nicely with what I want to be doing in the
community.
We are all volunteers in one way or another when we are in OSS, it's
just that we like to contribute our time to stuff we *like* to do,
rather than the stuff we don't want to do. I love to write code, I am
not great at administrivia, but I am good at "big picture" visioning and
integrating. But sometimes I have to hunker down and do the admin stuff
so I can move on to other stuff I like to do ("spinach before the ice
cream" principle). Common always has had a challenge in finding folks
who are willing to contribute time to lead and manage. Actually it
isn't unique to Common, most volunteer organizations have that
challenge. So I'll put together some things that *need* doing and we'll
see who pops up in the community to do it. I get it that each of us has
the time to contribute to our own sites, that is why we have them. But
contributing elsewhere, that is the challenge! Unless it's a tool they
use or something enjoyable, folks generally don't jump into other
commitments or projects. In other words, volunteering for the sake of
the community, and nothing else, is a rarity in any organization.
Just a couple of other things: I did solicit for participation at the
meeting in NOLA and yes, again in the Connect. We have gotten 1 (yeah,
count 'em, ONE) submission. I have to admit that I didn't receive the
email you referred to but I can't tell what address you sent it to.
Most of my email is handled on my own server (GASP! Like Hillary!) . I
rarely use Gmail for anything personal, it is mostly for forum messages
for the projects I participate in. So with one submission in 4 weeks, I
am not exactly inundated yet (wish I was!) The opensource@xxxxxxxxxx
address is currently a group address, so if I DO get inundated, I can
solicit for help in handling it.
There is a github account for Common OSS -
https://github.com/Common-OpenSourceSolutions I got it going last
fall. Unfortunately,
https://github.com/Common is taken but not
active. Not sure who owns it.....
There are no "politics" here Aaron. I am not sure why you think that.
Most of the involvement of Common has been done by my effort because of
the longevity of the organization. Sharing the dream of Open Source on
IBM i has been my mantra for a decade and, no surprise, the community
seems to have finally awakened about the same time Common did to say:
"Hey, there might be something to this". Most of the buzz has erupted
in the last year. I can't attribute it to any one thing or person.
You, I, Scott K., Alan S. and a bunch of folks at IBM and others beat
the drum long enough to get some visibility. We have it now. I don't
want us to miss the opportunity to consolidate our efforts, so this
doesn't become a flash in the pan like so many efforts have become in
the past. I may be a bit cranky about stuff that I am passionate about,
but I harbor no ill will. I just hate to see any effort at odds with
other efforts. I have heard a lot about growing "organically" but a
little coordination wouldn't hurt either.
Thanks for hanging in there. I appreciate all the suggestions and
feedback (really!)
Pete Helgren
www.petesworkshop.com
GIAC Secure Software Programmer-Java
LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/petehelgren
Twitter - Sys_i_Geek IBM_i_Geek
Github -
https://github.com/phelgren
Github -
https://github.com/Common-OpenSourceSolutions
On 6/24/2016 5:00 PM, Aaron Bartell wrote:
Love the transparency. Now we can start making progress.
midrange.com
