Joel, my own personal motivations are not too different from yours. Mine is based in selfless service in creating a tool that benefits the human condition and helps to solve existing problems facing humanity. I think bug hunting and code development are mundane [sometimes hellish] aspects of the electric world that can help spirits in a material world. To really serve others, we must start by not rejecting others from their perspective. This means respecting others ie. not imposing beliefs or values on others, who may not completely share them. The mission statement needs to avoid defining we and our ultimate goals which are quite diverse, see the lengthy Greenpeace awards thread[6] for example.
More mission statement examples and thoughts
The gentoo.org mission statement[3] is too wordy, but a section of it does represent one relevant example:
gentoo.org exists to assist those who use and develop for Gentoo Linux by providing relevant, up-to-date information about Gentoo Linux and Linux in general, focusing on topics related to Gentoo Linux installation, use, administration, and development. As the central hub for all things Gentoo..
In the context of high-performance software, these next two examples suggest some standardized terminology.
"IBM advanced computing technology center ..has High Performance Computing (HPC) as its focus and provides customers with solutions for porting and optimizing applications on IBM hardware[2]".
"The original mission statement of the LTC.. was to contribute technology to Linux with the specific objective of addressing enterprise functionality. [in essence] ..to help make Linux better, specifically for enterprise applications, workloads, and hardware"[5]
The mission statement should also be viewed in the context of internationalization and localization efforts[4]. A survey about how NGOs and TransNational Corps (TNC) can work together includes a section on how mission statements are viewed and used around the world. page 55 starts a list of NGO mission statements[1]. I would imagine this would be addressed in the regional translations. Avoiding slang should help in translating it.
1. http://www.pwcglobal.com/uk/eng/ins-sol/survey-rep/PwC_NGOreview.pdf
2. http://www.research.ibm.com/actc/Mission.html
3. http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/web/library/us-gentoo/#h7
4. http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/library/web-localization.html
5. http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-egltc.html
6. https://openacs.org/forums/message-view?message_id=91746
