[fab] discussion topics for red hat ceo

[Michael Tiemann]

On Mon, 2006-05-15 at 12:53 -0600, Stephen John Smoogen wrote:
> On 5/15/06, Michael Tiemann <tiemann at redhat.com> wrote:
> > On Sun, 2006-05-14 at 16:20 -0400, Max Spevack wrote:
> > > Howdy folks,
> > >
> > > The Fedora Project Board meets next Tuesday (5/16), and Matthew Szulik
> > > (Red Hat CEO) is scheduled to be in on the meeting.
> > >
> > > I've asked the board members to think about some of the topics they'd like
> > > to discuss with Matthew, but I wanted to throw it out to this list in
> > > full.  What are some of the things you'd all like to see discussed?
> >
> > My question would be: If Fedora could do one thing perfectly, what would
> > it be?  I pose that question to the FAB--how would you justify that
> > specific achievable goal as the highest priority to Matthew, and I'd
> > pose that question to Matthew--what does he think is the one thing
> > Fedora should deliver if it could deliver one thing perfectly.
> >
> 
> Hi Tim, I am a little confused by the question. One perfection is
> pretty much impossible, and two every engineer wants everything to be
> perfect.

Um...I'm Michael, not Tim.  But disregarding that small imperfection...

In my opinion, one of the most important things Fedora provides is a
genuine platform for user-driven innovation.  I believe that Fedora's
role in the SE Linux story was about as perfect as one could hope for
(even when SE Linux had to be disabled because Strict Policy Is Not For
Everybody (tm)).  However, Fedora is not the platform of choice for
innovating on:

	* Linux Audio
	* GIS system development
	* 3D content generation and distribution

to name a few.  But is user-driven innovation the one thing that we
should be most religious about?  Or should it be internationalization?
In that context we could measure: what percentage of i18n and l10n work
was done first and/or best via Fedora?  I actually suspect quite a lot.

I believe that Ubunutu's popularity is due, in part, to the fact that
they have communicated clearly what people can expect AND THEN DELIVER
ON THOSE EXPECTATIONS.  The question I guess I'm driving at is: what are
the most important (and distinguishing) expectations we can (1) set and
(2) deliver on?

M