On 04/18/2017 01:23 PM, Josh Boyer wrote: > On Tue, Apr 18, 2017 at 7:17 AM, Josh Cox <jcox@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: >> I also think "free" shouldn't be dropped from the mission statement. The "lights up hardware, clouds, and containers" part seems unnecessary to me, if the mission statement needs to be shortened. >> >> Perhaps something like this: >> "Fedora creates a free and innovative platform for software developers and community members to build tailored solutions for their users." >> >> Even with those changes, I feel like the current mission statement does a better job of emphasizing the values of freedom, innovation, and community with fewer words. > > A mission statement's purpose is not to describe a project's values. > It is to describe what the project is doing or working towards. It > should be measurable and finite, not open ended and impossible to > measure. > > Fedora has the four foundations to describe our project values. > > josh > I think what might be confusing is the differentiation between the technical and measurable aspects of the mission and the more open-ended values ascribed to the community. My guess as to why there has been a strong input to this specific point about the inclusion of language about free and open source software is that these things aren't mutually exclusive to our values or the mission alone. In the case of free software, I see it from this angle: * Software freedom is an important part of our community values that motivates contributors to participate in the Fedora community. * In achieving our technical goals and lighting up these platforms, it's equally important to build the tailored solutions as it is to lead these efforts to benefit a wider open source audience.[1] I've avoided commenting on this thread so far to take time to think on it, and now I do think including language that explicitly connects Fedora's technical and strategic mission for growth and innovation to the wider free and open source software world is important. From my perspective, Fedora contributors have always embraced philosophies like "upstream first" and promoting collaboration that goes beyond just our community. This philosophy impacts our project goals and what we're working on because it demonstrates that it's not just about Fedora, it's about building better software, period. Even though my guess is that "hardware, clouds, and containers" is hoping to get at that point that it's beyond our own community and also about building better software, these platforms aren't exclusively built on FOSS, which is why the input is coming up about this specific point. Even if it's difficult or challenging to figure out what we're supposed to measure by including language to clearly establish a connection to FOSS, it's something that I think both contributors and outside viewers look for in Fedora's technical and strategic goals. And maybe this is something you measure long-term too. Examples that stand out to me are Wayland, systemd, and GNOME 3, to name a few… :) To sum it up, I do see a benefit to clearly connecting Fedora's mission statement to the wider free and open source software mission, because this feels like something that's valuable from a technical standpoint as much as it is to our core values as a community. Just my 2¢. ~~~ [1] Even if this is what the intent behind the current proposed draft is (which I think it is), I don't think it's interpreted that way universally, and including language that establishes the connection to free and open source software removes doubt. -- Cheers, Justin W. Flory jflory7@xxxxxxxxx
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