[gentoo-dev] New GLEP -- New ombudsman position

[gentoo-dev] New GLEP -- New ombudsman position

[Grant Goodyear]

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I'm cross-posting to -core since I don't think all of our developers
have migrated over just yet, but please reply to gentoo-dev@gentoo.org
if at all possible.

GLEP attached.  I realized after the fact that I forgot to include a
link to the new management structure:  
http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/management-structure.xml.

Best,
g2boojum
-- 
Grant Goodyear <g2boojum@gentoo.org>

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GLEP: 7
Title: New ombudsman position
Version: $Revision: 1.1 $
Last-Modified: $Date: 2003/07/07 20:19:11 $
Author:	Grant Goodyear <g2boojum@gentoo.org>,
Status: Draft
Type: Standards Track
Content-Type: text/x-rst
Created: 6-Jul-2003
Post-History: 


Abstract
========

This GLEP proposes that we extend the current proposed management
structure by adding a position of Ombudsman that would fall under
devrel, qa, and pr.  An ombudsman is one who has been assigned to 
*impartially* investigate complaints and settle disputes.

Motivation
==========

Given the impressive numbers of both Gentoo developers and users, it is
inevitable that there will be occasional clashes between developers and
managers, developers and developers, and developers and users.  Right
now there is no mechanism to prevent such disputes from escalating out
of control.

Specification
=============

One developer (and one backup) will be appointed as ombudsmen.  This
positions should be far from a full-time job.  It would appear as part
of the devrel, qa, and pr projects (inasmuch as qa and pr both involve
developer-user relations).  Infrastructure requirements are an
ombudsman.gentoo.org web page and a ombudsman@gentoo.org e-mail 
alias. 

Rationale
=========

One traditional method (circa early 1800s in Sweden, apparently [#RIT]_)
for managing disputes is to have an impartial individual whose job it
is to investigate complaints and mediate settlements.  A quick search 
on Google [#GOOGLE]_ reveals numerous government agencies, universities,
and industries that employ official ombudsmen.  The key requirement for
an ombudsman to be effective is support from management and trust from
users and developers -- the ombudsmen must be considered by all to be
reasonably impartial.  

Backwards Compatibility
=======================

No conflicts.



References
==========

.. [#RIT] http://www.rit.edu/~022www/defhis.shtml

.. [#GOOGLE] http://www.google.com



Copyright
=========

This document has been placed in the public domain.


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Re: [gentoo-dev] New GLEP -- New ombudsman position

[donnie berkholz]

On Monday 07 July 2003 16:29, Grant Goodyear wrote:
> GLEP attached.  I realized after the fact that I forgot to include a
> link to the new management structure:
> http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/management-structure.xml.

A suggestion: 
It would be nice to have the IRC meeting time rotate, so the same people 
didn't have to consistently miss every meeting if they were in the wrong time 
zone etc. Various other projects do this, that's how I got the idea.

--
gentoo-dev@gentoo.org mailing list

Re: [gentoo-dev] New GLEP -- New ombudsman position

[Troy Dack]

> On Monday 07 July 2003 16:29, Grant Goodyear wrote:
>> GLEP attached.  I realized after the fact that I forgot to include a
>> link to the new management structure:
>> http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/management-structure.xml.
>
> A suggestion:
> It would be nice to have the IRC meeting time rotate, so the same people
> didn't have to consistently miss every meeting if they were in the wrong
> time
> zone etc. Various other projects do this, that's how I got the idea.
>

In addition to this it would be nice if times for the meeting and items
relating to the meeting (eg: posting of agendas) were expressed in UTC.

EST may well be Eastern Summer/Standard Time, but it is all relative to
where you live.  Here in .au EST is actually UTC+10.

-- 
    Troy Dack

--
gentoo-dev@gentoo.org mailing list

Re: [gentoo-dev] New GLEP -- New ombudsman position

[Grant Goodyear]

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Oh, and if you prefer the html version, or you just want to see what
else has been proposed recently, please surf on over to
http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/glep/
.
-g2boojum-
-- 
Grant Goodyear <g2boojum@gentoo.org>

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Re: [gentoo-dev] New GLEP -- New ombudsman position

[Todd Berman]

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On Mon, 2003-07-07 at 17:29, Grant Goodyear wrote:
> I'm cross-posting to -core since I don't think all of our developers
> have migrated over just yet, but please reply to gentoo-dev@gentoo.org
> if at all possible.
> 
> GLEP attached.  I realized after the fact that I forgot to include a
> link to the new management structure:  
> http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/management-structure.xml.
> 
> Best,
> g2boojum

Random thought: The ombudsman should rotate every 3 or 6 months, maybe
in this fashion:

backup becomes lead, new backup, that way the backup gets a chance to
observer what the ombudsman does.

Further more, I'd like to nominate Grant Goodyear (g2boojum) as the
first ombudsman and Dylan Carlson (absinthe) as the first backup [Got ya
back Dylan].

--Todd

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Re: [gentoo-dev] New GLEP -- New ombudsman position

[Kurt Lieber]

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On Mon, Jul 07, 2003 at 05:29:05PM -0400 or thereabouts, Grant Goodyear wrote:
> Abstract
> ========
> 
> This GLEP proposes that we extend the current proposed management
> structure by adding a position of Ombudsman that would fall under
> devrel, qa, and pr.  An ombudsman is one who has been assigned to 
> *impartially* investigate complaints and settle disputes.

Settle how?  Does this position (as proposed) have any power to make
decisions or is it more intended to try and find a common ground through
discussions and negotiations?

When is it appropriate to use this ombudsman?  How does one contact the
person?  Are disputes logged and/or public?

I have my own thoughts and opinions on this idea, but I want to make sure I
fully understand the proposal first.

--kurt

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Re: [gentoo-dev] New GLEP -- New ombudsman position

[Grant Goodyear]

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On Tue, 2003-07-08 at 09:18, Kurt Lieber wrote:
> > This GLEP proposes that we extend the current proposed management
> > structure by adding a position of Ombudsman that would fall under
> > devrel, qa, and pr.  An ombudsman is one who has been assigned to 
> > *impartially* investigate complaints and settle disputes.
> 
> Settle how?  Does this position (as proposed) have any power to make
> decisions or is it more intended to try and find a common ground through
> discussions and negotiations?

Replace "settle" with "mediate", as the ombudsman has no actual power
other than persuasion; it's intended entirely to facilitate finding
common ground through discussions and negotiations (good phrase; mind if
I use it?).

> When is it appropriate to use this ombudsman?  How does one contact the
> person?  Are disputes logged and/or public?

In principle it is appropriate to use an ombudsman at any time, which
one can do simply by sending an e-mail to ombudsman@gentoo.org.  A user
who's ticked because her bug has been sitting on bugzilla for three
months can send the ombudsman an e-mail, as can developer Y who's
finally had it w/ developer X changing the ebuilds that Y maintains
without consulting Y first.  The ombudsman's first job is to listen, and
then to try to mediate a solution.

In practice ombudsmen tend not to be overwhelmed because people
generally have to be pretty upset to go to the effort of complaining to
an ombudsman.  Of course, it's just those people who are likely to
create significant havoc if things are allowed to blow up.

All that said, ombudsmen are hardly a panacea, since some disputes
simply cannot be resolved effectively.  Even so, an ombudsman might be
able to mediate so that the parties affected can go their separate ways
_without_ rancor, but maybe not.

As for whether or not disputes should be public or logged, I have my own
thoughts, but I'm willing to go with the prevailing wind on this one. 
My feeling is that disputes should be logged by the ombudsman (it's very
hard to investigate w/o having the facts in front of one, and if the
dispute should recur it would be helpful to have a record of what
happened before), but that they should not be public unless the parties
involved make it public.  

I hope that helps.  Please feel free to be harshly critical, as it's
always possible that there are serious details that I'm missing.

-g2boojum-

PS.  I should note that the role of the ombudsman is to mediate
interpersonal disputes, not policy disputes.  Policy disputes are better
handled by GLEPs, since they really _do_ need to be public.
-- 
Grant Goodyear <g2boojum@gentoo.org>

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Re: [gentoo-dev] New GLEP -- New ombudsman position

[Kurt Lieber]

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On Tue, Jul 08, 2003 at 10:11:58AM -0400 or thereabouts, Grant Goodyear wrote:
> Replace "settle" with "mediate", as the ombudsman has no actual power
> other than persuasion; it's intended entirely to facilitate finding
> common ground through discussions and negotiations (good phrase; mind if
> I use it?).

Feel free. :)

> > When is it appropriate to use this ombudsman?  How does one contact the
> > person?  Are disputes logged and/or public?
> 
> In principle it is appropriate to use an ombudsman at any time, which
> one can do simply by sending an e-mail to ombudsman@gentoo.org.  A user
> who's ticked because her bug has been sitting on bugzilla for three
> months can send the ombudsman an e-mail, as can developer Y who's
> finally had it w/ developer X changing the ebuilds that Y maintains
> without consulting Y first.  The ombudsman's first job is to listen, and
> then to try to mediate a solution.
> 
> In practice ombudsmen tend not to be overwhelmed because people
> generally have to be pretty upset to go to the effort of complaining to
> an ombudsman.  Of course, it's just those people who are likely to
> create significant havoc if things are allowed to blow up.

This is an area I'm not sure I agree with -- I can see the ombudsmen
quickly and easily getting overwhelmed.  Though, to be fair, I think we're
both trying to envision how this process would work and I'm probably taking
the glass-half-empty approach.

In general, I dislike greasing squeaky wheels because I think it a)
encourages more squeaking and b) solves symptoms of problems, rather than
the more serious underlying issues.

Personally, I'd rather see this role morph (either formally or informally)
into more of a process-reengineering type person.  They listen to users,
developers, etc. to understand what complaints and issues are currently
running through the community and then work to resolve the underlying
issues causing those problems in the first place.

As an example, say Joe User complains because his bug has been outstanding
for three months.  It's easy enough for the ombudsman to badger the
responsible developer into fixing it, but that doesn't stop other bugs from
sitting around for 3 months, either.  

As it stands, I see the proposed ombudsman role as nothing more than a tiny
pressure valve.  It can relieve some of the pressure, certainly, but it can
only do so much before the pressure becomes overwhelming and things blow up
on an even larger scale.

> All that said, ombudsmen are hardly a panacea, since some disputes
> simply cannot be resolved effectively.  Even so, an ombudsman might be
> able to mediate so that the parties affected can go their separate ways
> _without_ rancor, but maybe not.

I agree and I do see some value in having this role.  Often, a pressure
valve can act as a stop gap solution while other folks work on solving the
real problem.  

--kurt

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Re: [gentoo-dev] New GLEP -- New ombudsman position

[Grant Goodyear]

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On Tue, 2003-07-08 at 10:51, Kurt Lieber wrote:
> This is an area I'm not sure I agree with -- I can see the ombudsmen
> quickly and easily getting overwhelmed.  Though, to be fair, I think we're
> both trying to envision how this process would work and I'm probably taking
> the glass-half-empty approach.

You may be right.  Upon further reflection, I tend to think I made my
descriptions too broad.  Ideally, the ombudsmen should only be dealing
with interpersonal problems, and not handling general gripes and
complaints (i.e., the ombudsman doesn't deal w/ "Hey, when's 1.4 going
to come out?!")

I'm not going to reply to the rest of klieber's e-mail right now because
I would like to see what other people think.  (I think the points made
are good ones that require a fair amount of thought, by the way.)

-g2boojum-
-- 
Grant Goodyear <g2boojum@gentoo.org>

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