fedora mission (was Re: systemd and changes)

[Bob Arendt]

On 08/27/10 16:09, Jeff Spaleta wrote:
> On Fri, Aug 27, 2010 at 2:47 PM, Bob Arendt<rda at rincon.com>  wrote:
>> Actually I think Fedora *should* articulate who the users are, basically
>> design and express who and what Fedora is designed for.
> <snip>
>> I think it would be much better for Fedora to decide what it *should* be,
>> specifically what the Fedora userspace should be, and excel at that.
>
> You have contradicted yourself a little bit here. And maybe its a
> language barrier so I'll be explicit.
>
> Who the users are now and who our users should be are not necessarily
> the same group. Polling our current user-base doesn't necessarily help
> us define who are users should be. And similarly polling our current
> user-base doesn't necessarily help us identify what we need to do
> better to better find and serve the users who should be using Fedora.
> Nor does it necessarily help us focus on the needs on any particular
> group that currently exists. We have some users who want A. We have
> some users who want B. That's what a survey will tell us, it won't
> help us judge the value of A relative to the value of B as a focus.
>
> -jef

My first statement was poorly phrased.  Fedora should state it's principles,
properties, use-cases, plant it's flag, and call for users that are
interested in these characteristics to rally around it.  Fedora seems to do
this from time to time;  My point is that it  should continue to do this.
The real people who should decide that direction are the contributors - it's
where the project's strength and energy comes from.  Developers, testers, etc.
Poll your contributors - polling the userbase adds noise. Fedora should
stick with it's Meritocratic roots.

.. of course, not being a significant contributor, I've disenfranchised
myself.  But I'm still a strong Fedora follower and enjoy the distribution.

Cheers,
-Bob Arendt