[brainstorming] strengthening KDE's global communities

[Benson Muite]

On 12/11/23 17:13, Joseph P. De Veaugh-Geiss wrote:
> Hello!
> 
> I am brainstorming how to strengthen our "Global Communities" and would
> like your input.
> 
> tl;dr Currently I see separate and somewhat isolated teams which are
> nonetheless related to each other in terms of language or geography. I
> would like to try to strengthen these communities by bringing teams
> together when they may have related goals.
> 
> I will use "Global Communities" as an umbrella term, and in some cases
> these communities may be language-based, in others geography-based. I am
> aware there are politics involved in this discussion, and maybe my
> oversimplification here is problematic. Nonetheless, I will take a risk
> and open it up for discussion.
> 
> This work is very much in the "ideas/critiques welcome" stage, which is
> why I am writing here now. I would love to have your input; see below
> for some general questions but feel free to add your own.
> 
> If this idea has legs, I will eventually post to Discuss/kde-community
> ML for wider discussion, but want to consult stakeholders first before
> doing so.
> 
> _Background_
> 
> I am thinking specifically of the following 4 categories which are
> relevant for KDE's Global Communities:
> 
> - (i) translation teams (e.g., Spanish:
> https://l10n.kde.org/team-infos.php?teamcode=es)
> - (ii) websites or blogs (e.g., KDE Italia: https://kdeitalia.it/)
> - (iii) user support & networking channels (e.g., KDE India at Discuss:
> https://discuss.kde.org/c/local-communities/kde-india/19)
> - (iv) promo and outreach (KDE Network Mexico:
> https://go.kde.org/matrix/#/#kde-network-mexico:kde.org)
> 
> For more examples, please see the following wiki (note: I plan to change
> this page to be called "Global Communities, since it is not only about
> local communities):
> 
>   https://community.kde.org/Local_Communities
> 
> Note: All of the links included at the above wiki page do /not/ appear
> at l10n.kde.org, with the one exception of international sites (e.g.,
> https://jp.kde.org/). Perhaps some of the links from the wiki should
> eventually be included at l10n.kde.org, or vice versa, if stakeholders
> want that.
> 
> _Problem_
> 
> Although KDE has several active Global Community groups, activities
> across groups which could be relevant to one another are spread out over
> numerous channels. As a result, I think there may not be (much/enough?)
> communication between groups with possibly related goals.
> 
> Please feel free to correct me if you think this observation is
> incorrect or inaccurate.
> 
> _Initial Thoughts_
> 
> Unless I am seeing this in the completely wrong way, I believe we can
> bring some of these different groups under a broader community tent
> instead of having separate and somewhat isolated groups. How exactly and
> what that will look like is very much still an open question for me. The
> wiki above is my first attempts to start grouping things together in a
> meaningful way as I have been looking at it recently.
> 
> At this stage I am collecting information and ideas. I don't want to
> assume this work is on the right track, so as a primary stakeholder
> please let me know what you think. I would like to evenutally make some
> proposals to the community but would first like to get your general
> thoughts before proceeding.
> 
> _Open Questions_
> 
>  * Are there other stakeholders I should reach out to?
>     + I have already contacted Aniqa (in CC) for her work in the area of
> promo/outreach under the "KDE Network" initiative.
>  * What am I getting wrong here? Constructive criticism is very welcome.
> I am certain I have blind spots.
>  * My impression is that translation teams in particular are a success
> story for KDE. Why do you think translation work has been so successful?
> Can some of that be 'translated' to other aspects of global community work?
>  * Do you know of related work? What has worked? What has not?
>  * What outcomes would you like to see if I proceed? What should be
> avoided?
>  * What do you think could be some metrics to measure the health of
> these communities?
>  * Any thoughts on how to best structure global community teams to
> facilitate communication between them?
> 
> Please let me know your thoughts, and thank you!
KDE España is one of the more successful communities.  Expect part of
the reason is use and support of localized open source software in
education.
> 
> Cheers,
> Joseph
>