[fedora-india] What is the easiest way to find an Ambassador near to oneself ?

[sankarshan]

Here's an example from real-life. I took a fancy to a product from a
consumer goods company, checked up their websites for the nearest
stores, paid a visit to all of them and, found out that this
particular product is not launched for my region at all. That specific
bit of information was available at the larger store who pointed me to
the contact details for their head office. So, the question was - what
about my consumer experience (going round and round without getting
what I wanted) and, did I eventually buy it ?

I am sure that the answer would be fairly obvious.

Firstly, thank you Ankur for taking time out to write the concerns. As
much we have talked about it, having a single mail helps. This is much
appreciated.

On Sun, Jul 26, 2009 at 10:41 AM, Ankur Sinha<sanjay.ankur at gmail.com> wrote:

> A lot of ambassadors lack accountability. I suggest a weeding process to
> weed ones that are inactive. I know this has been done before, but
> housekeeping is periodic, isn't it?
>
> Since becoming a fedora ambassador is a voluntary activity,requiring no
> qualification, a lot of folks join up just so they can call themselves
> "Fedora Ambassador in India" without paying *any* respect to it's
> duties.

The decision to become a Fedora Ambassador is voluntary, but not for a
moment let us delude ourselves by thinking that it requires no
qualification. An Ambassador is an evangelist and, an evangelist is a
person who knows as much about the product/technology as do the
developers. That takes a lot of doing and, requires investing time. A
self-initiated disciplined approach towards becoming an excellent
Ambassador goes further than an externally imposed discipline coupled
with the stick of censure.

There can be many good reasons as to why a listed Ambassador might
choose to be silent and unresponsive. And, they are all valid reasons.
However, because he/she is an Ambassador, it is their duty to inform
the Ambassadors about their going on leave of absence so that the end
user experience is not hindered.

Susmit has worked hard within the FAmSCo to put in place a system
somewhat similar to what you describe which is aimed at a single
objective - ensuring that the listed Ambassadors are the "active"
Ambassadors. I would like to give the system some time to show
results. It does derive from the "provenpackager" model and, I believe
that it would help us grow a better community of Ambassadors.

> As starters,for eg(s),
>
> - IIRC, all ambassadors were required to post on their blogs (every 3
> months atleast , I think?) regarding what work they've been doing?
> - How many of them even take part in discussions on this list?
> - How many of them are helping spread Fedora or contributing otherwise?

Good catch :) I haven't been that regular myself. I think I should
start putting out on blogs that discussions which are initiating
various good stuff.

> There are a lot of other duties that need to be fulfilled which are
> going *ignored*. As a side effect, *we* end up asking questions such
> as,"If there are *so many* ambassadors, why isn't the LC program
> working??"

The LC program has its own reasons for being the way it is and,
frankly, it has been one issue that we have been trying to grapple
without much apparent success.

> Replying to a mail saying "Yes, I'm an ambassador and I've been doing
> this recently."(which there is no way of confirming) is not enough to
> "qualify" someone as an ambassador. Most folks only wake up to reply to
> that one mail so they can keep the "FA in India".

I tend to follow the thumb-rule that the Ambassadors will not be
fibbing. Or, they will write about what they have been doing actually.
Of course, it turns out that now and then I do get pointed to tall
claims. Not much can be done besides the fact that the specific
Ambassador loses the currency of trust on my books.

The point is, if someone is doing, they are trying to solve problems
and, such things are best done through a discussion with the peer
group.

[snip]

> There was a "probation period" for new ambassadors too. I haven't quite
> seen it implemented.

Ahh ! That means we are doing a good job of implementing it :)

~sankarshan


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