Re: [gentoo-project] Resignation

[Daniel Campbell <zlg@gentoo.org>]

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On Sat, Dec 16, 2017 at 12:34:03AM -0800, Daniel Campbell wrote:
> Effective today, December 16th, 2017 at 0800 UTC, I am resigning from my
> position as Gentoo Developer and Foundation Trustee. I joined Gentoo to
> gain experience and give back to the libre software community. In some
> ways, maybe I succeeded a little. I learned from this experience that
> I don't need to be a member of a distribution to contribute or advance
> my skills, and people will often act against their stated goals if it
> improves their appearance. It taught me how *not* to organize a libre
> software project. The few great experiences I had here at Gentoo sadly
> do not outweigh the negative experiences, and I'm no longer interested
> in beating my head against that brick wall.
> 
> Here's a list of the "nothing" I've done in my Gentoo involvement:
> 
> As proxy maintainer, I took on these packages to sort of "prove my
> worth":
> 
> net-p2p/i2p
> net-p2p/imule
> x11-wm/fluxbox
> 
> I knew nothing about Java -- and it probably showed -- but I was willing
> to learn what was necessary to get the ebuilds in better shape. This
> never changed throughout the 2.5 years I was a developer.
> 
> pchrist, heroxbd, jlec, and zlogene mentored me and got me up to speed.
> I am grateful for their level of care and attention, and the effort they
> put in alongside me. My recruitment process was protracted due to real
> life, but we eventually pulled through.
> 
> After I became a developer, maffblaster welcomed me to the wiki, and
> we even had a conversation over Mumble later on. I later took on more
> packages, enthusiastic to give back to a distro that I liked:
> 
> app-cdr/bashburn
> dev-util/astyle
> media-sound/apulse
> media-video/smtube
> net-misc/toxic
> sys-apps/udevil
> www-servers/lighttpd
> x11-misc/alock
> x11-misc/ktsuss
> x11-misc/spacefm
> 
> I dipped my hands into any bug I thought I could reasonably solve,
> and sought advice when I didn't know the correct way to do something.
> Sometimes this worked; sometimes I'd realize I didn't have the skill
> necessary, and left it to the more experienced people.
> 
> Sometimes, mgorny would show up and tell me that my solution sucked or
> was "braindead", or that such-and-such solution was "common sense",
> with no explanation as to *why* it was "common sense". (this was on
> IRC, though [1] outlines where jcallen had to clarify what I hope
> mgorny intended to communicate) He didn't ever tell me what the correct
> solution was to any given problem that I might've messed up. To this
> end, his criticism served to do nothing but demotivate me. At a later
> point, when monsieurp and I were dealing with file collisions, he
> threatened to have us go through the developer quizzes again. [2] None
> of his criticism was helpful or encouraging. The key to good criticism
> is to be *constructive*, acknowledging the mistakes *AND* the successes.
> Without both, one's communication is morally destructive.
> 
> [1]: https://bugs.gentoo.org/547524
> [2]: https://bugs.gentoo.org/603526#c6
> 
> (careful, the comments might be deleted in response to this e-mail to
> save face)
> 
> Later, I was nominated as Trustee by klondike. At first, I didn't think
> I could do the job. Maybe I should've listened to that feeling. But I
> felt it would be rude if I didn't accept a nomination. Nothing ventured,
> nothing gained, right? I didn't expect to be voted for. I had a feeling
> I would be laughed at and would walk away having spent the time on a
> manifesto for nothing. Reality is often stranger than fiction, and I
> found myself in a Trustee role. Given that he was only one rank below me
> in the election, I feel that klondike may have been a better fit for the
> role. I regret accepting the nomination.
> 
> robbat2 mentored me on Treasurer duties, when he had the spare time. I
> felt bad that he was spread so thin between his other Gentoo duties,
> mentoring me, and being a parent. Nevertheless, I pushed forward, trying
> to fill the role as best I knew how to. Most of the time, I was afraid
> to touch anything because I understood that money was involved. I didn't
> want to make a mistake and cost us money. Because of that, I only ever
> logged into one account (Paypal), and only to gather the metadata we
> needed to update some records.
> 
> mgorny again showed up; this time accusing me of being a "do-nothing
> politician". Thankfully, I kept an activity log of everything I did for
> the Foundation, and `git log --committer=zlg@gentoo.org` will show you
> everything I did in the tree. Yes, I made mistakes. Some of them rookie
> ones. But given that I wasn't being paid for my work, and time spent
> on Gentoo meant time I couldn't spend on other things (like personal
> projects), I needed to make a value decision: was I willing to continue
> donating labor to an organization that didn't notice my work unless
> I screwed up? If I was truly as ineffectual as those who claimed it
> (rich0), what was the point of continuing? The cricitism I received
> during my time as a developer was demotivating and didn't acknowledge
> any of the *correct* things I did; how exactly was I going to improve?
> 
> These questions led me to my answer: leave the organization. There is no
> point in continuing to try when I will only be berated for screwing up.
> My failures will be paraded to all while my victories go un-noticed and
> unappreciated. This is a losing proposition, leading nowhere. As such, I
> am terminating my involvement with Gentoo Linux and its Foundation.
> 
> I'd like to thank everyone who helped me become a developer and trustee,
> and the two positive code reviews I received during my time as a
> developer, by Soap and floppym. They helped me understand not only
> *where* I messed up, but what the solution should've looked like and
> *why* their solutions were better. I don't think either of them really
> like me, but credit given where it's due.
> 
> A developer will not progress or become more skilled unless they
> understand those key things (why, how, where). Drive-by insults and
> egotism will drive people away. Gentoo won't improve in this regard
> unless it cares enough to value what people contribute and acknowledge
> when people give constructive reviews. It takes effort from both "sides"
> of a mentorship in order to get any appreciable progress.
> 
> When I reached out to members of the Gentoo community, I learned that
> there were a considerable number of users (of all skill levels) who,
> for whatever reason, did not want to go through the process of becoming
> a developer. This told me that there was an imbalance in the value
> proposition; that is, the effort spent to become a developer *appears*
> to be more work than what you get by making it through the process. I
> think this is the core of Gentoo's struggles. Gentoo will continue to
> suffer from manpower problems [3] until it figures out how to improve
> that value proposition. If higher quality recruits are desired, then
> a structured curriculum -- with smaller, focused tests along the way
> -- may be the best way to bring a recruit from "wet behind the ears"
> to "ready to commit on the toolchain". This process is important to
> Gentoo's longevity, and unless its leadership takes this social problem
> seriously, they will find themselves with more work and fewer people.
> 
> [3]: Before any glib old-timer pipes up, recall that the Council (your
> leadership) just recently considered a mailing list split and discussed
> package maintenance (i.e. manpower) problems in the same meeting; I hope
> the irony is not lost on others.
> 
> I expect to be laughed or jeered at by mgorny and other senior
> developers, but now it's Gentoo's problem, not mine. I've done what I
> thought I could do, and can walk away knowing that I tried. Nobody can
> reasonably ask for more than that.
> 
> So long, and thanks for all the fish.
> 
> (on the plus side, you can now type 'zl' and Tab in IRC to get zlogene
> instead of me :P)
> 
> My Foundation activity follows.
> 
> FOUNDATION ACTIVITY TRACKER
> FOR zlg@gentoo.org
> 
> 2017-10-08
>     Worked with robbat2 to catch up the MoneyMarket account to match the missing
>     statements from 2013-12 to 2015-12.
> 
> 2017-10-22
>     Edited the Foundation:Activity Tracker page with the new due date of the 
>     Treasurer's Annual Report with NM: 2018-11-15
> 
> 2017-11-19
>     robbat2 re-encrypted the banking passwords file, granting access to online
>     accounts for me to begin converting Paypal transaction data and catch up on
>     other financial activity.
> 
>     Paypal transaction information from 20170701-20171031 was imported and 
>     converted using `make all` in /paypal_raw/; commit pending
> 
>     Corrected Ruby call in paypal_raw/Makefile to ruby22
> 
>     Added a note in paypal_raw/README about requiring dev-ruby/tzinfo    
> 
>     The meeting was postponed until Nov 26th, due to Meeting Chair's last-minute
>     obligations and a shortage of trustees.
>         * E-mail announcement was sent to -nfp@l.g.o
>         * Wiki page for meeting updated
>         * #gentoo-trustees /topic updated
> 
>     Convened with robbat2 on correcting the rubycsv code to include Subject: and 
>     Note: fields for matching accounts. He later fixed this on his own.
> 
> 2017-11-26
>     bug 605336; updated metadata for FOSDEM 2017 LiveDVD production reimbursement
> 
>     bug 591704; updated metadata for Perl Foundation donation in our loss of
>     avenj
> 
>     wrote script to update foundation member OpenPGP key IDs to fingerprints, 
>     per ulm's request: 
>     https://archives.gentoo.org/gentoo-nfp/message/f06a3b742e06ddfcb541a822e0210e05
>     sent to trustees@g.o for review
>     used one-liner from robbat2 to fetch fingerprints from LDAP to x-ref
> 
>     bug 638036; created bug for shadowz.in request for logo/trademark licensing
>         discussion pending
> 
> 2017-11-27 to 2017-12-04
>     worked on two more scripts to migrate and upgrade foundation list to include
>     full fingerprints (and multiple keys)
>         only script remaining is wikitable creator; a user indicated it would
>         be trivial to write, using awk.
> 
> EOF
> -- 
> Daniel Campbell
> OpenPGP Fingerprint: AE03 9064 AE00 053C 270C  1DE4 6F7A 9091 1EA0 55D6
> Found on hkp://keys.gnupg.net and other keyservers

After conversing with a few members of the community, I have decided to
remain as a Gentoo Developer. I understand that resignation is not to be
taken lightly. However, it's pointless for me to throw away my effort
just because others may not like what I do.

To that end, I accept the consequences of my resignation as Trustee. I
wish klondike the best in his new role, and hope that he is able to do
what I could not. I will stick around to share my notes and finish the
Foundation member list migration (assuming someone else hasn't beaten me
to it).

I'd like to apologize to the Trustees for causing an abrupt absence
during a time of turmoil and business (holidays and the stress they
entail, etc). Maybe there was a better way to go forward.

To clarify what I said wrt mgorny, I don't care that it was him who was
acting in the fashion that I described. If it had been anyone else, I'd
have felt the same way. I could have phrased things more clearly; I 100%
stand by my commentary regarding the behavior, as that is what I was
targeting.

As for developership, I don't expect any special treatment, like giving
"my" packages back or anything of the sort. I'm going devaway for at
least one month to reconsider my efforts and refocus.

If this is unacceptable, I understand and can live with the consequences
of my prior decision.
-- 
Daniel Campbell
OpenPGP Fingerprint: AE03 9064 AE00 053C 270C  1DE4 6F7A 9091 1EA0 55D6
Found on hkp://keys.gnupg.net and other keyservers

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