<div dir="ltr">Hi John,<div><br></div><div>Thanks for separating out this discussion. I appreciate that.</div><div><br></div><div>There is a lot to respond to here and myself and other board members have been mulling over it. I think it's best we discuss as a board after the conference to ensure positions are summarised fairly. Many of us are caught up in conference proceedings, much of which have been discussed openly on <a href="mailto:foss4g-oceania@lists.osgeo.org">foss4g-oceania@lists.osgeo.org</a>.</div><div><br></div><div>People are welcome to contribute to the discussion in the meantime and I sincerely hope we can make progress on the theme of openness.</div><div><br></div><div>Thanks,</div><div><br></div><div>Ed</div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Fri, 5 Nov 2021 at 23:22, John Bryant <<a href="mailto:johnwbryant@gmail.com">johnwbryant@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">I've split this into a new thread and removed the original private email, which was posted by mistake.<br><br>I'm
very sorry to see Bruce choosing to step away, I have great respect for
his inputs over the last few years. I think it raises an important
issue for OSGeo Oceania and this community.<br><br><div>I agree with Edoardo
and Bruce that communications must be open, for reasons both principled
and pragmatic; this is what open source communities are all about. <br></div><div><br></div><div>OSGeo
Oceania was created on a promise of transparency [1], and should live
up to that promise. The board in particular has the opportunity to lead
by example, and set the tone for this open community.</div><br>I believe
most of the current board agrees with this, and the 2021 board got off
to a great start, returning discussion to public lists, using a public
Loomio for voting on motions, and voting in favour of opening board
meetings [2]. Kudos to Edoardo for his huge efforts in leading this
push.<br><br>Part way through the year the board's public
discussion seemed to drop off considerably, immediately following a
discussion about transparency (ironically).<br><br>As an outsider, I
don't know what the board discusses in private. But if I may speculate:
there may be a small minority who prefer the board to operate in
private, and the force of their opposition to measures intended to
improve transparency could have a chilling effect on the rest of the
board's commitment to operate in public.<br><br>I believe this dynamic,
if it exists, is a severe detriment to the functioning of the
organisation, and I hope it comes to an end as soon as possible.<br><br>John<br><br>[1] OSGeo Oceania Terms of Reference: <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/13aZ6L08ke1-l32I7c00MahyEKgxeZkq8" target="_blank">https://drive.google.com/file/d/13aZ6L08ke1-l32I7c00MahyEKgxeZkq8</a><br>[2] <a href="https://www.loomio.org/d/f0xNZQKg/open-board-meetings" target="_blank">https://www.loomio.org/d/f0xNZQKg/open-board-meetings</a><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sat, 6 Nov 2021 at 07:31, Bruce Bannerman <<a href="mailto:bruce.bannerman.osgeo@gmail.com" target="_blank">bruce.bannerman.osgeo@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="auto"><div dir="ltr">Colleagues,</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">I
have spent around 15 years with OSGeo-AustNZ and now OSGeo-Oceania.
This included working as a member of the FOSS4G-2009 Local Organising
Committee.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Eduardo is correct that in an open source community, communications MUST be open.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">For OSGeo-Oceania this means the <a href="mailto:oceania@lists.osgeo.org" target="_blank">oceania@lists.osgeo.org</a> list.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">If I look at our list archives [1], I find very little in the way of open discussions. </div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Imagine my surprise to find a FOSS4G event in Perth recently. I only found this in passing on a LinkedIn thread.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">This and the email thread below, is symptomatic of an organisation in trouble. </div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">We
discussed the need for openness on this list over twelve months ago in
response to the problems that the then Oceania Board was having. It is
apparent that this advise has been ignored.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">I intend stepping back from OSGeo Oceania and focus my volunteer time elsewhere.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">I’m currently a list administrator. I no longer wish to hold this role. I suggest that the current board find a replacement.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Kind regards,</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Bruce</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">[1] <a href="https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/oceania/" target="_blank">https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/oceania/</a> </div><div dir="ltr"><br></div></div>_______________________________________________<br>
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