[Ambassadors] ubuntu & fedora

David Nalley david at gnsa.us
Mon Jul 13 16:54:06 UTC 2009


On Mon, Jul 13, 2009 at 12:14 PM, Emilio
Simpkins<unidentified221 at gmail.com> wrote:
> It seems to me like there is being over-reacted to. All that was asked was a
> simple question, and now its turning into we should have a cert test so you
> can be an ambassador. I gotta say, it doesnt look very friendly and inviting
> to newer ambassadors when there question is turned around on them and there
> told , "Well you should already know the answer to this".
>

There is more to this issue than this particular thread and it is
something the Ambassadors have struggled with.
The Ambassadors is not a fan club, or user group, though we are all
fans and users for the most part. The issue is that the function of
the Ambassadors is to represent Fedora and serve as a liaison to the
wider free software community and the public at large. The problem
arises when those people tasked with the job know little or nothing
about Fedora and it's goals and ideology. For instance, we repeatedly
had Ambassadors who argued for and couldn't understand why Fedora
didn't include non-free software such as proprietary kernel drivers.
Those individuals, who are no doubt fine upstanding people in their
own right, can't do a good job of representing Fedora because they
don't understand Fedora. We've put in place a mentoring system for
prospective Ambassadors that hopefully will eliminate much of this
problem, and help better educate those who wish to get involved with
this sub-project.

Think about the political analogue - I could not effectively be an
Ambassador for Mozambique, not because I am an idiot, but because I
know practically nothing about Mozambique, I've never been there,
never experienced the country, and certainly have no idea of how to
represent the country of Mozambique to other countries.




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