Project Leader
Posted: 24. Jul 2009, 08:06
I could be wrong but I feel that we could benefit from having an official project leader. 
Even though we all want to do away with an autocratic system, it might be smart to elect a project leader who would be sort of our BDFL except it would be for the *Life of a given release*.
For each release of Salix, we could hold a new election that would either renew the term of the project leader in place (if he is still able to commit himself to it) or else set a new project leader over the new projected release.
Advantages:
* More assertive decision making while still being democratic
* More manageable commitment over a certain time period (after all, we all do have another live to attend to)
* In time, most active developers & contributors could have a chance to get the experience to lead an open source project while our project would also benefit from different personalities, talents & focus being able to express themselves in turn more assertively.
* This would also reinforce the feeling of our most active developers & contributors that the project is indeed their own baby, which is essential when you give most of your free time to something.
* Avoid possible dog fight once the project grows... even if you do not like a certain decision (which is bound to happen), it is easier to respect it if you know that it is actually issued from a democratic community expression even if embodied by a certain project leader.
* This would also ensure in the long run that the project will not die when the original & key initiators loose their interest and/or the possibility to keep being so involved. In other words it ensures that the project is not depending on anyone, but rather that it is a self-supporting & self-propagating machinery.
* Etc...
To get us started, I'd like to nominate Gapan who has been acting as our natural leader & has invested the most time & effort into this project. In fact he is the one instrumental in getting us all involved into this project in the first place...
Even though we all want to do away with an autocratic system, it might be smart to elect a project leader who would be sort of our BDFL except it would be for the *Life of a given release*.
For each release of Salix, we could hold a new election that would either renew the term of the project leader in place (if he is still able to commit himself to it) or else set a new project leader over the new projected release.
Advantages:
* More assertive decision making while still being democratic
* More manageable commitment over a certain time period (after all, we all do have another live to attend to)
* In time, most active developers & contributors could have a chance to get the experience to lead an open source project while our project would also benefit from different personalities, talents & focus being able to express themselves in turn more assertively.
* This would also reinforce the feeling of our most active developers & contributors that the project is indeed their own baby, which is essential when you give most of your free time to something.
* Avoid possible dog fight once the project grows... even if you do not like a certain decision (which is bound to happen), it is easier to respect it if you know that it is actually issued from a democratic community expression even if embodied by a certain project leader.
* This would also ensure in the long run that the project will not die when the original & key initiators loose their interest and/or the possibility to keep being so involved. In other words it ensures that the project is not depending on anyone, but rather that it is a self-supporting & self-propagating machinery.
* Etc...
To get us started, I'd like to nominate Gapan who has been acting as our natural leader & has invested the most time & effort into this project. In fact he is the one instrumental in getting us all involved into this project in the first place...
