[WikiToLearn] A draft proposal for a WikiToLearn Board and other structures

[Valorie Zimmerman]

On Wed, May 11, 2016 at 3:58 PM, Riccardo Iaconelli <riccardo at kde.org> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> given the unexpected and rapid growth of WikiToLearn, many of you have
> expressed concerns about having some more structure to organize work. I have
> been giving it some thought, inspiring myself from how KDE e.V. and Fedora
> work.
>
> Here's a quick draft of what I imagined for WikiToLearn:
>
> https://docs.google.com/document/d/
> 1xV6TZeYKxeZjn9OGqeaIKghS7rh780Zv_fRblW_4kWk/edit#
>
> Note that there are almost no WikiToLearn resources for now, so the board job
> should be minimal, but I want to have something ready just in case some
> University or other charity decides to fund a WikiToLearn specific project.
>
> A couple of unresolved notes:
>  - The active electors group: KDE account holder seems like a nice idea, but
> maybe we want them to be developers? or require a minimum time? or a support?
> or...?
>  - Same issue (but maybe it's less of a problem) for passive electors.
>
> I would like to gather some feedback on the proposal and kickstart a first,
> test mandate of these organs with a nomination, which would last half the
> normal time (6 months/1 year), and would allow us to start these structures
> (which we badly need) and review any rough points which may arise.
>
> What do you think?
>
> Bye,
> -Riccardo, WikiToLearn BDFL

My feedback, from my experience in Kubuntu, which functions inside
Ubuntu, as W2L functions inside KDE: We have a Kubuntu Council, which
is elected by all the Kubuntu members who care to vote. In turn, the
KC can vet new members, has charge of a bit of donated money, etc. The
KC has no say about technical stuff, although some of us have
opinions! :-)

We also have Kubuntu Developers, who are selected by the Kubuntu
Developers. The meetings where the more experienced devels grill the
applicants is quite fun and enlightening. The KDevels decide all
technical matters.

What I like about the division is the same reason I like the fact that
the e.V. and KDE development are similarly walled from one another -
community and technical development are both important, but different.
And the experts in each are the ones keeping their own craft alive and
well. If you want to be involved in both, great, but you have to meet
different criteria. And yet both support one another completely.

Of course this is different than how W2L functions, but I think you
can use our experience as one successful example of governance.

Valorie