On Thu, Apr 20, 2017 at 11:11 AM, Stephen John Smoogen <smooge(a)gmail.com> wrote:
On 20 April 2017 at 07:10, Brian Exelbierd <bex(a)pobox.com>
wrote:
>
>
> This structure seems to really change the meaning. We are now saying we
> build a thing for users, community members and developers to use to make
> hardware/container/cloud solutions. That reads to me like Fedora is a
> project that exists to enable hosting providers.
>
> I think about the mission statement as a statement that says "We make X
> to cause Y to happen which enables Z to do P"
> X = our software platform for hardware/clouds/containers
> Y = an ecosystem around our platform
> Z = our community members and developers and users
> P = achieve their goals (i.e. building a new web app, running a
> university, building the best desktop&services platform for knitters,
> etc.)
>
> I realize I am biased because I was part of the team that generated the
> original statement, but I still like the modified form of:
>
> Fedora makes an innovative free/open platform available on hardware,
> clouds and in containers that enables our community, users, and
> developers to achieve their goals.
I still think it really is too long and trying to cover all the
bases.. which is a problem a lot of mission statements have of trying
to please as many people as possible. They start to look like middle
aged people trying to recapture their youth by driving a red
convertible and driving past the Silicon Valley startups on a slow
cruise to see who will jump in.
This is a reason why people groan like they have groaned at every
heavy worded mission statement in the past.. Remember all the ones
that made sure that terms like Linux, Internet, or Web had to be in
them in the 90's and early 2000's? They look too much like a three
strand comb-over.
I apologize if this is coming across as highly negative. I know how
hard writing a mission statement is.. I have had to do at least 10 in
my career. Most of them were a LOT worse than the one presented here..
mainly because they were trying to square a circle. The ones that
worked were always short, sweet and clearly pulled from the values to
the vision as I said earlier.
Also since I got one Neil's case for not offering a patch, here is my
current ones.
The Fedora Project creates innovative platforms built on Free and Open
source software that allows our community build tailored solutions for
their users.
The Fedora Project creates Free/Open innovative platforms that allows
our community to build tailored solutions for their users.
Platform. Singular. We are providing a Platform, not a variety of them.
That is part of the mission's focus. We need to provide a common
platform across a variety of target environments so that end
developers and users have something to consistently rely on to develop
or tailor. If we provide multiple platforms it gives us no value,
causes resource issues and confusion, and doesn't help us with
marketing at all.
I'm not meaning to pick on you, and maybe you didn't even think about
that aspect. I'm simply using this as an opportunity to highlight
what we feel is a very key tenant of the new mission.
josh