[Foundation-l] About transparency

Mon Dec 31 03:32:44 UTC 2007

Ilario wrote:

>  What is community? Do you mean the same community who loves to  
> discuss
> and frequently to lose the aim of some votation or elections?

This is a great question, and I applaud Ilario for asking it  
straightforwardly.  In my experience, sometimes "the community" is  
used to refer to those who actively edit and otherwise contribute to  
the projects, and sometimes it's used in a broader way, as in "the  
community we serve."  Personally, I prefer the broader sense -- not  
everyone who makes use of the projects will be someone who wants (or  
is able) to contribute actively the way so many of us do now, but we  
want to serve everyone, not just those who have paid their dues.

If "the community" means "the human community," then I think we need  
to take that community into account when we discuss governance issues  
-- it seems wrong in that context to favor active editors over those  
who merely make positive use of the content we all provide and  
maintain (i.e., most users of the projects).

Me, I am happy to serve the community of editors, but I hope we serve  
the larger human community as well, and, as a staff member committed  
to the success of the projects, I hope our Board represents that  
community's interests, regardless of the particulars of how governance  
works.

--Mike