[CentOS] Open Letter to Lance Davis

[P Marvin Eberly]

On Fri, 2009-07-31 at 06:59 -0700, Craig White wrote:
> On Thu, 2009-07-30 at 21:15 -0500, Johnny Hughes wrote:
> > Akemi Yagi wrote:
> > > On Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 5:36 PM, Jim Perrin<jperrin at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >> On Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 6:47 PM, Johnny Hughes<johnny at centos.org> wrote:
> > > 
> > >>> Why ... we are under no obligation to tell people how how we spend
> > >>> monies.  There are costs that are incurred for any organization.  We are
> > >>> probably going to disclose how monies are spent in the future because we
> > >>> choose to.  If you run a private organization, must you tell me how you
> > >>> spend your money?  You get an OS and can chose to donate monies or not.
> > >> We're not under any obligation to tell people how the money gets
> > >> spent, but doing so certainly goes a long way building good will. In
> > >> my opinion, a simple 'We got X monies in donations which were used to
> > >> purchase dedicated hosting, bandwidth, and various novelties for booth
> > >> and show kit' once in a while would do worlds of good for showing
> > >> people how we use the money they choose to give us.
> > >>
> > >> I don't have any legal obligation to help old ladies cross the street,
> > >> or rescue cats from trees. It's what you do because you're a good
> > >> person. Doing this in a community sense is what makes you a good
> > >> neighbor, and what helps build community reputation.
> > > 
> > > I have to agree with Jim here.  It is not legal obligation or
> > > anything. IF I am running a project and ask the community for help and
> > > I receive donations (monetary or in the form of thousands of donated
> > > hours), I would feel obliged to return back to the community.  And in
> > > doing so, I would want to disclose everything.  Once again, this is
> > > not due to any legal requirements but because I would feel the project
> > > is no longer my private toy and I owe the community.
> > > 
> > >>> We are hiding nothing ... why exactly does CentOS need to provide that
> > >>> information to you?
> > > 
> > >> Thinking that this is entirely an internal manner is a bit
> > >> short-sighted. Keeping all the problems internal doesn't solve them.
> > >> Not to speak for Dag, but judging by his blog reaction to the news,
> > >> the finance issue and lack of openness is part of what drove his
> > >> departure. If we move to adopt a slightly more open approach and
> > >> include more community efforts, I believe that we'll see a great deal
> > >> of good from it.
> > >>
> > >> It's not that we OWE the community anything. It's that we should do it
> > >> because it's how we want to be treated, and how we SHOULD deal with
> > >> them while we participate in the project.
> > > 
> > > I mostly agree with Jim.  As I wrote above, if this was my project, I
> > > would feel I *owe* the community.  But that is strictly my personal
> > > feelings.  I cannot imagine how I can ever pay back if those who
> > > donated their time ask for refund. :)
> > 
> > Actually, I agree with Jim too :)
> > 
> > We will likely do all or most of these things because we want to do so,
> > but not because we have too.
> > 
> > My point was that we wanted to give someone the benefit of the doubt
> > because we were trying to do right by him too ... now we (as a group)
> > think we need to do something differently, and we will.  Regardless of
> > what else we do, we still have to acknowledge that without Lance, there
> > would have been no CentOS at all ... and because of that we probably
> > waited to long to push this issue.  However, we did it because of good
> > intentions and hopes of someone doing the right thing, not to hide
> > anything.
> ----
> totally agree and just want to add one more thing...I am very happy to
> see Johnny posting to this list. It has been a long time and I hope you
> are well.
> 
> Craig
> 
> 
  +1


-- 
P Marvin Eberly <eberlyml at wjtl.net>