#Open Letter to Joomla! Community
##Background Wow! I never thought the day would unfold like this when I woke up this morning. It has been a long and challenging day and so I'd like to start this letter with a bit of background and what I believe to be some common core values we, as the Joomla community, uphold and agree upon. These are listed on our missions and values page.
- Freedom
- Equality
- Trust
- Community
- Collaboration
- Usability
If you're interested in reading more about each of those points you can do so on the linked page above. These are the values that each of us, as volunteers in Joomla, hold to be important and agree to uphold. Unfortunately that is not always the case. It would be foolish to believe however that we will always act perfectly and appropriately according to these values every day and in every situation. We are all human and we are all imperfect people.
In fact, I think that's an important point. Not only are we all human, but as we state in our key value, we are equal. There is no one greater than another. We have different talents and different abilities and different views. But we are equal. And just because someone has accepted a position of leadership, whether that be on the board of Open Source Matters, as a member of the Production Leadership Team, or Community Leadership Team, or any of the wide number of working groups which make up the Joomla project; this does not change the key value that we are all equal. And perhaps just as true - we are all imperfect. As the community development manager I carry a great deal of weight on my shoulders. I aim to help see our community as a whole grow stronger, to thrive, and to join together for the common goal we have set as our project's vision:
- People publishing and collaborating in their communities and around the world
- Software that is free, secure, and high-quality
- A community that is enjoyable and rewarding to participate in
- People around the world using their preferred languages
- A project that acts autonomously
- A project that is socially responsible
- A project dedicated to maintaining the trust of its users
##Acknowledgement And so, as the Community Development Manager, and as an imperfect equal volunteer in the Joomla community I would like to offer the following apologies.
###Apology to Developers To those Joomla developers who dedicate so much of their time and talents to the Joomla project, whether that be CMS or Framework, I apologize for the lack of recognition and the lack of appreciation for the many voluntary and selfless donations of time, skills, and resources you've made. Joomla would not be what it is today without the countless hours devoted to its success, by those of you whom have carried the torch, spent the long nights working, and forsaken personal reward in order to volunteer to Joomla. I believe I speak for the entire leadership team when I say this is an area we are dedicated to working on and improving in the months, and years to come. It is nearly impossible to thank you all individually for the untold number of ways in which you've volunteered.
###Apology to Community Secondly, I wish to apologize to the Joomla community. Through the years there have certainly been disagreements and arguments and differences of opinions. I don't apologize for those. I welcome those. Those moments define us as a community. They make us stronger, and they encourage us to grow, even when its' painful. And yet, not every discussion has been handled appropriately (remember, we're all imperfect people), not every argument without its faults, and not every fight without its personal failures. I apologize for those times when tempers have flared, where we've lost sight of the goal, let our passions get in the way, and attacked a person rather than debating an issue.
###Apology to Leadership Lastly on behalf of the community, I'd like to express an apology to the leadership involved. As a community, Joomla looks to the leadership for guidance and for direction. Sometimes it can be easy to forget that you don't have all the answers. It can be easy to expect perfect decisions and perfect choices from those we have elected to lead - and that's an unfair and unrealistic expectation. I apologize for those situations where you've had to make a tough choice, and in hindsight, perhaps not the right choice and then we've not given you the benefit of the doubt. I apologize for questioning motives without first seeking to understand the intent.
##The Problem Now to discuss this specific situation. In a recent post there was an announcement of an offer of a tool to the Joomla community to assist in testing the pre-release version of the next Joomla CMS. This offer was made with well-meaning intent by a member of the Production Leadership Team (PLT) and on behalf of an offer presented by a fellow leadership team member from Open Source Matters.
###The Need The need seeking to be met is a very real one. The PLT has seen a pattern of very low pre-release testing numbers based on downloads and issues reported before the release. Once a release is made available a huge spike in activity results and a large number of environments begin to use the software. At this point issues are uncovered and brought to the attention of the PLT. Obviously this is less than ideal. It's physically impossible for the PLT to undertake this amount of testing without the support and involvement of the community and other volunteers. As a result the PLT was interested in offering any additional assistance necessary to increase the involvement of users before the final release.
###The Offer A member of Open Source Matters (OSM) offered free use to software which normally would be a part of a paid service offering. This offer was made and quickly accepted as an alternative to explore which may increase the testing as mentioned previously. ###The Dilemma Herein lies the dilemma, at what point does an offer such as this become no longer a free service offered to meet a need in the community and instead become a commercial opportunity for a business. And even more specifically, when the individuals involved hold a position of leadership within the Joomla project does that have an effect. Clearly, this situation is full of potential conflicts and different opinions.
##The Solution I bet you skimmed the entire article looking for the solution didn't you? I hope not, because my answer is simple. The solution has not been fully created. As a result of this particular case (and yes, it could even have been looked at before) the Joomla Leadership Teams have unanimously agreed more discussion and a clear set of guidelines should be created to help protect the open transparency of the Joomla project and the Joomla community. I fully expect these to be announced and shared within the next few months.
It's also good to know that almost within minutes of the conflict surfacing in the forums, the joint leadership teams recognized and began discussing the situation. I share this specifically so no one in the community thinks situations like this are ignored by Joomla leadership or its volunteers. I can say with confidence that as soon as these guidelines have been discussed and agreed to they will be made publicly available for everyone to see. And I truly believe help us to prevent situations like this from happening again.
##Acknowledgement In the future I know there will be other issues and debates to arise. I don't believe for a minute that a single issue will result in a perfect solution to every debate and every challenge which we may face in the future. But I do believe we're seeing an opportunity to change. An opportunity to improve our community, our guidelines, and our philosophy by which we govern ourselves. I would remind you of the premise I stated earlier - we are all imperfect people. It can be difficult to admit fault, or acknowledge when reflecting on our actions that perhaps our decisions were less than perfect. Often times a rigorous defense of our position is easier than accepting errors in judgement. But we must work through each situation and issue without taking personal offense. We must be willing to acknowledge others.
##Encouragement In closing I would like to both encourage and appeal to you. First as a word of encouragement, I would say be glad. Be glad that our community is one where passion abounds and our community is vibrant and alive. If we lacked the passion and the motivation to see Joomla better. If we, the Joomla community, lacked the passion and the motivation to see Joomla improve or treated situations with apathy and disinterest we would be a dead and lifeless shadow of what we once were. Instead we have an enormous amount of empassioned, thinking, and intelligent people with their own ideas willing to work together to make Joomla better. This is unmatched in other communitites. I challenge you to find another community with the amount of heartfelt love you'll can find in the Joomla family. So be encouraged, don't let disagreements and discouragements keep you from contributing your ideas and your voice.
And secondly I would make an appeal to you. As you continue to speak up and share your ideas and your thoughts - do so respectfully. Think the best of the other person. Treat them as an equally imperfect person, and carry yourself with grace and poise. Keep your argument free from personal attack and backhanded references to the past. Listen to the other's views. Focus on constructive criticism and a desire to reach a common understanding. Keep in mind the differences in culture and in languages and always keep perspective.
Thank you all for your many contributions and I hope if there are any specific concerns you will reach out to me directly. I want to support each of you and fulfill my role as our community development manager. If you have any ideas for improvement or wish to discuss things with me privately, don't hesitate to email me - david.hurley@joomla.org
Sincerely,
David Hurley
@dbhurley Thank you for sharing your well communicated thoughts. I appreciate your approach to leadership.
@vdrover, regarding the issue of sponsorships, you raise a good point for consideration, but surely there are at least a few more issues for us / leadership to consider, and I don't think this letter is meant to be a place to list them all.