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Final Election Thoughts

January 22nd, 2015 by

As the openSUSE Board election quickly draws to a close, I take a moment to remind openSUSE Members to vote.

Elections and voting are a rather remarkable thing.  We take up or values, our beliefs, our interests, and briefly toss them in the air, letting the air flow somewhat disrupt them as they gently fall like leaves.  We think for a moment: What’s important to me?  Why is this important to me?  And does it really matter who I vote for?  Can a small Board of Directors really make a difference in the larger scheme of things?  Can the elected person really represent my interests?

In American politics, there is much apathy for and little trust in elections.  There are many reasons for this (and it’s a topic for discussion and reflection saved for a very different forum).  But as much analysis is done by professionals who analyze these things, they often conclude that each individual doesn’t think that one vote will matter.  “I’m just one person in an ocean of people; how will my vote matter?”  But for us, well, no one knows better about Freedom and Openness than an opensource community.  Voting — expressing one’s confidence in another person to serve as a representative of an ideal, a promise — is a hallmark of Freedom and Openness.  If only one vote is cast among many, then the ideal of only the one is expressed.  If your vote is not cast and the others of your community are, then your voice is diminished.  When a whole community votes, the full range voices is heard and discerned.

Vote.  Our community is strengthened when your vote is cast.  Whether or not you vote for me, please vote.

I believe it matters.

The election ends on Monday, 26 Jan 2015.

Craig Gardner’s openSUSE Board campaign

January 8th, 2015 by

Hi openSUSE Team,

It’s campaign season, and time for me to make sure all voters know what I stand for regarding openSUSE, “The Finest Distro, Period.”  As I mentioned in my announcement, if elected to The Board, my intended involvement would focus on these three principle goals:

A) Improving the visibility of openSUSE among the huge variety of distro offerings that exist. Specifically, improving the amount of press and exposure of openSUSE to offset the over-represented exposure that other distros receive.  Since openSUSE is the The Finest Distro, Period (as I asserted above), we can do better to make it known.

B) Promote openQA, and make it the bedrock of quality assurance for openSUSE. Improve the confidence that the community and the public should have in the quality of our great product! The Quality of openSUSE — out of the box, and updated over the wire, over time — is dependent upon a battery of high quality testing. Perception is everything in this business. Great testing will give us great quality, great results, and great users.

C) Support the improvements that have been incrementally made over time by prior board members, building on their successes. There are too many accomplishments to enumerate here, but the project has come a long way under some great leadership. We don’t need huge changes in leadership or direction; we need to capitalize on our prior successes and press forward.

And I wish to add one more goal to my original list:

D) Continue to foster community involvement and attract new talent to the project through high quality openSUSE Conferences. Bringing together the best talent to oSC events does a great deal to build bridges of trust and move the project forward in a unified way. A high quality oSC improves the quality of the brand and the product.

But of course, the few members of the Board are just a small functioning part of a successful community. The real success of openSUSE is a result of the hard work, the passion, and commitment of the members. As a member of the board, I intend to be someone who brings out the best in others; to help you do what you do best; to bring good people together fo the strength of the project. openSUSE is “The Finest Distro, Period,” only because its contributors are The Finest. Period.

As the polls open in a few days, please vote for Craig Gardner (@ganglia). You’ll get a firmly committed member of the board, who wants to help you — the community — to find even greater success.  And don’t forget to have fun.