Re: elections

[Muhammad Alkarouri <malkarouri at yahoo dot co dot uk>]

Salam,

Note: After I wrote this e-mail, I felt the reply should go to forum.
Hence I am sending this e-mail both directly to Arafat and to forum.

On Fri, 2004-10-01 at 11:53, Arafat Medini wrote:
[...]
> And I think with these new elections the Arabeyes core members show
> blantly that they lost the fight. For me these elections don't show "our
> willingness to renew the blood of the project" but the reality that the
> core-members don't have the commitment (the energy ? the money? the
> time?) to fight for what they installed some years ago.

Let's be fair. It's not a matter of losing a fight. Frankly, the core
members are doing the work as if it is a full time paid job. I don't
feel they lost any commitment. Probably time, yeah, as the project is
getting bigger and responsibilities are more varied. As a simple
example, were there 10 mailing lists 4 years ago?

> The project can be compared to some app with a front-end and a back-end.
> The core members were the back-end ensuring that the whole project is
> still healthy and alive whereas we the front-end were working hard to
> deliver a compelling product. I for myself don't want to think about
> legal and organizational stuff inside Arabeyes, I simply want to deliver
> my pos and make the gnu tools kick ass.

Correct. The problem is that the we were more or less acting as 'thin
clients' and sending most of the job to the back end. I am actually not
sure if you have any discussions on irc about that, but probably the
problem is that too many people don't want to think about
legal/organizational stuff..

> Instead of us concentrating on the REAL problems awaiting us, SO MANY
> problems which are not solved, we simply begin to start playing with the
> stability of the project in introducing new ppl to fields they should
> not be interested in. Not because they are not good but because of our
> problems:

Is it really true that there is that much people want to compete for
core? Wow, I didn't know that..

> Too few ppl, no real mass translations! SO FEW MAN even after all these
> years!

Too few ppl is the problem, and this is independent of the organization
thing. And opinions differ. As an example, I feel we have
sooooooooooooooooooooo few developers. How about that?

> Too few skilled ppl to roll out quality work and define standards.
> Too few standardized papers to ease cooperation with other groups.

In this case we should try to reinvent ourselves and get to do better.
All of Arabeyes, not core only.

> No real cooperation with other groups.
> No REAL answers to attacks from the outside and the inside.
> etc... etc...

I now definitely that there is something behind the scenes.

> And instead of us coming together, working together and being for eg.
> present and discuss our problems in the IRC etc... NO we are only hungry
> for power, well you not me...

I am not sure if you are taking into account that some people cannot be
in irc at the right time, as the 'right time' is very different
according to your time zone. And probably a few, like me, don't have irc
access at all, being behind a firewall. Just raise the issues here (in
forum) and I think things will get sorted out.

> Instead of thinking about these problems we are hurrying for elections!
> What will bring us these elections? Come on, only cz some ppl said there
> is no democracy in Arabeyes we'll hurry up in giving ppl the opportunity
> to be the new "sheikh alqabila" at Arabeyes? ... How hungry are we for
> power? would I ask... Arabeyes at the end a playground for power-hungry
> ppl? No more workplace and commitment?

I personally feel we should get these elections right. I am not going to
run, and I am not planning that in the near future. But we need the
system right. If you are saying 'there should be no elections' you
should have said that some time ago, but this is a topic discussed long
ago.
Hint: try to know the situation in 'core' now. May be you can check the
core mailing list?

> Sure every "election" has it's good sides, but we're not electing here
> ppl who were engaged for at least some months in the arabeyes process,
> only three did that and maybe two really knew the meat. it's like
> electing a president who never practiced politics. And in this regard I
> see these elections as not beneficial to us, the core members themselves
> didn't ask us when they decided to make these elections and for myself I
> see this as a BIG mistake, no discussion were held, so where is the REAL
> democracy in this process??? no qualified person, no real discussion, no
> real argument.... Well for me this elections are not democratic! A
> reaction to some internal mood at the core group?

Now I believe that this is getting more specific, but I don't have the
background. As for new people, don't vote for them. To say they should
not run is a preemptive strike:) May be core didn't make a formal vote
for elections, but this was mentioned, and discussed many times. I
remember at least twice, once when I had some heateddiscussion in the
past, and more importantly, when they asked for input about Arabeyes
charter, which some people, presumably want to do more actual work than
care about Arabeyes structure, didn't bother to feedback. After all, the
elections issue was on and off since the end of August, I believe.
Elections are not democratic? Another preemptive strike, I presume.

> What I am afraid of, and what is also clear for me, is that groups and
> ppl who don't know what Arabeyes is simply can change the track of the
> project, that only cz ppl are busy or bored they step down from their
> responsabilities and that at the end like the Arabic regimes we'll
> become a playground for untrained ppl living their power illusions and
> enjoy being a "leader"....

I totally agree that this might be the case eventually, but I plan, in
the elections, not to make that possible, and I hope you will.
And I am not sure that if you have people who are busy or bored, you can
stop them from resuming by force. You should convince them to continue,
and vote for them.

Salam,
k