Requests for Advice from the Board

[Josh Boyer]

On Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 5:27 PM, David Nalley <david at gnsa.us> wrote:
> So you mention delegating authority or power, and I think that the
> Board actually possesses very little authority inherently, and I think
> that is a good thing. (But it really makes delegating hard when you
> have nothing to delegate) The real power and authority is with the
> people who are doing the work, so there is nothing to delegate in the
> first place. Yes, as a community we've worked out a number of groups
> (like FESCo, FAmSCo, FPC, etc) that organize and effectively act as
> coordinators, but there's still precious little authority from a
> traditional view point.

This is misleading.  The Board sets the overall direction of Fedora.  There
is authority in that, and further the FPL HAS override authority for pretty
much anything.  So, the Board (and the FPL) has the authority to say no and
while everyone seems to be really afraid of pointing that out, it is still
true.

> I realize that I am preaching to the choir (and to someone with far
> more experience re the Fedora Board), but I personally see the Board
> as minders of the trademarks, and hopefully present to unblock people
> who are trying to get things done, and that is the responsibility
> we've decided to take on. Perhaps, as a board we'll also help direct
> Fedora's future, I think we certainly have the obligation to look out
> for the future of Fedora, but I don't think that having a Board seat
> is a prerequisite for that type of leadership, as a matter of fact,
> I'd argue that anyone can do so.

How can the Board unblock people who are trying to get things done if they
have no authority to do anything?  They can't, without telling whomever is
blocking the requester to stop it.  Again, the power to say no or knock it
off.  (Judiciously used, and rarely at that, but still within the Board's
power.)

If the Board's primary responsibility is trademark guideline adherence and
requests, then I would humbly submit that the Board should be disbanded
because Fedora legal can handle that just fine.

I've been on the Board.  I happened to be on one of the Boards that
pro-actively tried to set direction for the Project in both the mission
statement and the target user.  Were those happy fun times that everyone
agreed to and held hands and sang happy songs about?  Certainly not.  Were
they controversial, unclear, and a off-putting to some?  Absolutely.  Did it
drive some people away from the project as contributors?  I have no idea to
be honest.  It would be hard to say.

When my term was over, I thought it was a lesson in failure.  All I saw was
the turmoil and complaining and quite honestly I was pretty burnt out on
Fedora.  I guess time has allowed a bit of reflection and while there may
have been some mistakes made and the end result wasn't perfect, I actually
look back at that as a _good_ thing for Fedora.  The Board actually did
something to steer the project and try to clarify who we're targeting.
Most importantly, we weren't afraid to actually exercise the intended
purpose of the Board, even in the face of pissing people off.  I find that
much more satisfying than having a Board that is entirely non-opinionated
and seems to exist for the sake of having a Board.

I do see good things coming from the current Board, like the individual
member goals and championing of sub-projects.  So please don't take this as
a slam of the current Board.  I do wish, however, that you would be a bit
more hands-on even if that is only admitting that you were elected to lead
the project and it's really hard to do.  You are not cheerleaders.  You are
supposed to get your hands dirty, and sometimes even tell people no if the
occasion shows itself.

josh