Forum OpenACS Improvement Proposals (TIPs): Re: TIP #1 (Proposed): OpenACS Core Team Rules and Responsibilities

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18: Re: TIP #1 (Proposed): OpenACS Core Team Rules and Responsibilities (response to 1)
Posted by Ola Hansson on 08/18/03 01:04 PM
What do we actually want the OCT to represent? Should it represent each and every individual that has managed to log in and become a member, or, should it represent the best knowledge and skills found within the community?

In other words, do we want the OCT to reflect quantity of ideas or quality of ideas? Do we want our community to be a democracy (ruled by the people) or a meritocracy (ruled by the merited - meaning those who, *through practice*, have turned out to be the greatest resources)?

I for one thought it was long since acknowledged that this community is a meritocracy ...

As for cvs access - If someone feels that they need to be able to commit to one part or another of the code tree they will most likely either contact the leaders directly and ask for it, or post on the forums about how to get it. I see no difficulty in that, especially since the leaders seem to follow the posting traffic closely.

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22: Re: TIP #1 (Proposed): OpenACS Core Team Rules and Responsibilities (response to 18)
Posted by Talli Somekh on 08/18/03 10:01 PM
Ola, I have a deep and nearly uncontrollable hatred for the concept of a meritocracy. I find "merit" to be arbirary and incoherent when aligned with the principles of an open community. And I believe that it leads to entrenched cliques.

The provisional voting structure has been set up because that was a way for identifying a "citizenry" quickly and easily. But those people are not necessarily the most important nor the most qualified for OpenACS to succeed. For example, some of those who have voted haven't had the most time to work on code lately or don't represent the one of the key factors in OpenACS improvements - access to funding.

This is an example of how "merit" is very difficult to define.

Over the next month we'll have to come up with a governance infrastructure that makes more sense. I asked a month or so ago about what makes a good OpenACS citizen and got very little response. I will spend some time on a proposal and post it as an RFC.

talli