[Members] 2013 Board and Council Elections - questions for candidates

[S Moonesamy]

At 09:04 16-10-2013, Kevin Smith wrote:
>It's somewhat disingenuous to claim that no-one else has commented 
>when a good number of people contributed to discussions in the XSF 
>MUC and elsewhere.

Ok.

>I think the best way to achieve this is to have jobs that people can 
>do; people are unlikely to volunteer to do stuff if there isn't 
>anything to do. There has been suggestion of having assistants to 
>the XEP Editor - if the relevant people (Board and the XEP Editor 
>(Peter)) can define what needs doing I'm sure we'll get volunteers for this.

The XEP Editor role is already defined at 
http://xmpp.org/about-xmpp/xsf/xsf-people/#extensions  Why does the 
XEP Editor have to "gather and tallies the votes of the XMPP Council"?

At 09:12 16-10-2013, Kevin Smith wrote:
>So I'd quite like Board to tell us what Board can do for us.
>
>Turning it back on the Board candidates, I'd find it very useful to 
>have a summary of what they expect to achieve next year if elected, 
>because right know I know I want something but don't necessarily 
>know exactly what it is.

I am not enthusiastic about:

   "All persons are equal... but some persons are more equal than others."

In my opinion it would be difficult for the XSF Board to do much 
without strong support from members.  The main objective I would set 
is that the answer to a question should already be publicly 
available.  It is part of making the XSF transparent to the every day person.

I would look into the XSF structure, i.e. what is needed to 
future-proof the foundation.  There is the:

   - Legal aspect: some of the expertise would have to come from outside the
     XSF Board, for example, by seeking out XSF members who have experience
     in legal matters.

   - Infrastructure: there should be some membership visibility into 
that.  This
     is not about "it is not working fine".  It helps to see what work is being
     done in the background.  There could also be some experience sharing with
     new people who might be interested in helping out.

   - Financial aspect: that should be transparent to all XSF members.

   - Accountability: I would like the XSF members to take a critical view
     of the work being done and comment.  If members do not find anything
     wrong it means that the XSF Board has set low expectations.

  I should provide some background information in response to the 
message at 
http://mail.jabber.org/pipermail/members/2013-October/007273.html  I 
don't recall receiving that message.  Please copy any reply to me as 
I am not subscribed to the mailing list.

Dave Cridland mentioned that there is a shortage of candidates for 
the Board.  I am aware that Peter keeps things running smoothly.  I 
wasn't keen on running as, in my experience, taking on such 
commitments ends up taking a lot of time and effort if results are 
expected.   As I started the discussion on the standards@ mailing 
list I thought that I might as well put my name forward and encourage 
XSF members to have the (current) discussion.  If I had a hope it 
would be that the questions I asked should not be asked again as the 
answers are already there.  The vision, if I can call it that, is to 
have the XSF speak on behalf of its members when the interests of its 
members (as a whole) are at stake.  In my opinion the XSF should be 
vendor-neutral.

I understand that people are uneasy when they see two new names 
appearing on a candidates list.  Appointing a director is not an 
trivial matter.  It is the responsibility of members to ensure that 
these directors can be trusted with the XSF.  People usually tend to 
choose someone who is well-known or whom they personally know.  As I 
am not important I am not well-known.  I know a hand-full of XSF 
members personally.

Why am I doing this?  I like using open protocols.  It takes more 
than technical specifications about an open protocol to ensure the 
viability of the protocol.  That's where the XSF comes in.  Why 
should I bother about XSF when somebody else is doing the work or can 
do the work?  I don't like taking things or people for granted.  If I 
can chip in I might as well do it instead of expecting other people to do it.

Regards,
S. Moonesamy