Re: Petition for referendum

[Vincent Untz <vuntz gnome org>]

Le jeudi 29 septembre 2005 �7:00 -0600, Andreas J. Guelzow a �it :
> On Wed, 2005-28-09 at 17:55 -0500, Shaun McCance wrote:
> > There are clearly pros and cons on all ends.  Larger groups can
> > produce and defend a wider variety of viewpoints.  Smaller groups
> > can avoid filibustering and METOOing.  My personal experience is
> > that larger groups tend to be less efficient.  Cooks, broth, etc.
> > It's not an issue of wresting control from the community.  It's
> > an issue of finding the right balance given the trade-offs and
> > the dynamic of the group.
> 
> In view of Dave's statement it appears to me that the point is to make
> the board small enough to avoid dissent. 

No. I think one of the point is to make the board small enough to avoid
never-ending discussions. There will always be dissent (and it's not a
bad thing ;-)). What's not good is not taking any decision or not moving
forward because of dissent. Having a smaller group *might* help for
this.

Also, Dave wrote on his blog: "Or worse, someone mails the board with a
question, and because there are so many of us, everyone things "someone
else will answer that one", and the issue drops through the cracks."

This happened to me. And not only once. I'm not blaming the board for
this because I believe they're all trying to do their best, but this
should really not happen.

The real problem might be that some (most? all?) of the directors don't
have enough time for the Foundation because they're also working on
other things (and I'm glad to see them working on other things because
they rock on those things!).

Is there any bad things about reducing the board size? I guess the first
argument would be "the board will be too small for doing everything it
should do". I'm not sure that's true, and even if it's true, I hope the
board will delegate tasks to other people. And in the end, it might help
doing a better job.

I'm not saying reducing the board size is the perfect solution to all
problems. But it might help.

Vincent

-- 
Les gens heureux ne sont pas press�