FESCo meeting summary for 2009-06-26

[John5342]

2009/6/26 Seth Vidal <skvidal at fedoraproject.org>:
> I suggest everyone cut the drama. We're talking about whether or not the
> live cd is labeled as 'gnome desktop' or leaving it as it currently is which
> says: 'fedora 11 desktop edition: featuring the gnome desktop'.

I see a very big difference. I look at
http://fedoraproject.org/en/get-fedora and i see a Fedora 11 Desktop
Edition which somewhere in the small print says it features Gnome.
Anyone at a glance could easily believe that this is the one and only
desktop that Fedora provides (it is after all the "Desktop" edition).
In the meantime the KDE spin is hidden behind a "KDE fans, go here"
link which could for all i know leads to the website of some
<favourite sport here> team named KDE.

Linux is supposed to support choice but in reality people are offered
1 choice and then left to search for others. Just call these spins
what they are. All the other spins seem to describe themselves
accurately so why can't the Gnome one do the same.

> I don't see the need for the distinction.

You may not and a lot of others may not but a lot of people do.

> Furthermore, I was being flippant b/c I thought the claim that Kevin was
> making was a bit over the top. Misleading? That implies intent and no one is
> intending to mislead anyone.

Misleading does not necessarily imply intent. When the name was first
decided Gnome may well have been the main desktop on Fedora. KDE has
however come a long way and the KDE SIG has done a lot to help make
KDE not just a mildly supported desktop maintained as a toy but a real
contender. "Desktop Edition" has over time gone from being a mostly
accurate name to a misleading name that now implies it is "THE"
desktop when in reality it is just one of the any available desktops.

> Now, I don't understand why it is - but there seems to be a contigent of
> people who work on the KDE packaging for fedora who believe that KDE is
> being slighted or biased against in some way.

I dont think it is just the KDE packagers but can you really blame
them? It is the kind of instant dismissal met in the meeting that has
led me to agree entirely that a lot of people are biased against KDE.
I really didn't believe it until i read the log.

> We have a default install of Fedora. It installs a desktop that features
> gnome.

I have no problem with the fact that when i download the dvd it by
default selects Gnome because right underneath it is KDE. I un tick
Gnome and tick KDE. I don't have that options if i downloaded a a Live
CD. I either downloaded the Desktop spin in which case i am screwed or
i happen to know that it ONLY contains Gnome and i happen to stumble
on the KDE spin.

> There is no bias there, it just in reality.

Just because it's reality doesn't mean it can't be changed. Are you
afraid of change?

> Maybe reality has an anti-kde bias, but it's not been put there by anyone on
> fesco, the board or anyone else. Being melodramatic about it is not going to
> change anything.

You call this melodramatic but the dismissal given by FESCO was also
melodramatic. (don't throw stones when you live in a glass house and
all that)

I do agree that this is perhaps a little outside the scope of FESCO
and should probably be brought up with the board but the way the
request was dealt with was way out of order. I voted top marks for
Kevin Kofler in the election but i am rapidly regretting some of the
other votes i gave. The attitude given by some of the members of FESCO
to this request were disgraceful and un called for. I will be
remembering that for next elections.

Kevin Kofler came up with some significant arguments for changing the
name. The best the rest of the group could come up with was "It
doesn't really matter". If it doesn't really matter then whats so hard
about changing it.

-- 
There are 10 kinds of people in the world: Those who understand binary
and those who don't...