[fedora-india] Ambassadors in India

[Siddhesh Poyarekar]

On Mon, May 10, 2010 at 12:56 PM, Ashwin <ashwin.lists at gmail.com> wrote:
> It is so demeaning to judge someone for her/his *volunteering*
> commitments. Beware, this is going to bring in negative feelings.
>
> As it is, it is pretty difficult to convert a user to LINUX, and this
> sort of over zealous drive for accountability is not going to help and
> make the matters more difficult.

Being an ambassador is about as difficult as writing code, bugzapping,
maintaining packages, etc for people in their respective areas of
specialization. This is not judgement, it is merely minimal
accountability. It is absolutely irresponsible behaviour to think that
you can volunteer for something without being accountable for it.

> Exactly, so do not try to paint the volunteers as sinners (for not being
> *active* enough as per your new found yardsticks of *today*) and shift
> the goal posts midway of a game.

You don't have to look at it as sin. It is OK if someone does not have
the time to contribute to Fedora. I'm not sure what is so offensive
about being removed from the ambassadors list if you're not going to
be doing your job of being an ambassador. It is analogous to the
"unresponsive maintainer" provision we have for package maintainers.
Going by your logic we ought to let them be since they would be
offended otherwise and as a result, let packages rot.

> In-activity (or opposite of hyper activity that you desire) can be for
> various reasons (long drawn sickness, commitments towards sick parents,
> new baby, new marriage etc.) but that does not mean the person is no
> more an advocate of LINUX / Fedora. You think you want to sit on a
> judgement here any more ?

Such conditions are generally known, and can easily be brought to the
forefront through contacts within the community.

> What you guys are saying is that - to be a volunteer (or rather to be
> listed on the website of Fedora as one) a certain level of activity has
> to be guaranteed and that too repeatedly. Then why not pay for the base
> minimum activity (based on your new yardstick), anything above the base
> minimum is a bonus for Fedora and Redhat is it not ?
>
> You want volunteers to be accountable. Why ? Are you questioning their
> intentions to be a volunteer for Fedora ? If some one added his/her name
> to the list, I am sure it was done with good intentions. Why should we
> change that basic status / frame of mind ?

All volunteers are accountable for their jobs. If you don't want to be
accountable for something you commit to then you cannot be trusted.
Genuine reasons like the ones you mentioned are an exception and I'm
sure they will be considered. It is not a shell script that will be
doing this. Rahul's statement also very clearly states this:

"Ambassadors are volunteers and might not always be available"

so if you're keen on repeating this theme then I understand that
you're only trying to spread FUD.

> Take an advice, refrain from questioning what the volunteer is doing
> about his committed role as an ambassador, otherwise pay for it.

Unnecessarily dramatic statement bordering on utter nonsense.

> Based on what I see now, I am happy that I never listed myself as an
> volunteer / ambassador for Fedora. I continue to be volunteer and I am
> active in helping new/old LINUX users, as per my own standards of
> volunteering time at my disposal.
>
> Why should one follow the yardsticks for *volunteering* as laid down by
> you guys ? It sounds so demeaning. It sounds like policies of Microsoft.
>
> Wake up guys, it is also important to be open minded. All the names once
> listed can continue to be there, all it takes is a few mega bytes of
> space. If someone responds to a request as volunteer, it is great, if
> not even then it is great, the request can be sent to another volunteer.

I'm not sure you understand at all. Listing someone's name there as an
ambassador means that the person is available to be contacted and is
in the loop with the current status of Fedora. If someone is provably
not involved at all and is simply taking up bytes, there is no point
in putting him/her there since it is only going to turn a potential
contributor away since (s)he could not get in touch with that person.


-- 
Siddhesh Poyarekar
http://siddhesh.in