[OpenID board] Usage of the Public and Private Board Mailing Lists

David Recordon david at sixapart.com
Thu Aug 13 16:57:54 UTC 2009


I actually agree with Chris.  I think that many people choose the  
private list because it's "easier" for a variety of reasons.  We  
should identify those reasons and work to resolve them.  Our default  
should be public and we have remarkably few (if any) NDAs to deal with.

I also agree that having a simple process to move something started on  
the private list to the public one makes sense.

--David

On Aug 13, 2009, at 9:40 AM, Nat Sakimura wrote:

> I disagree. I think they are resorting to private list because they  
> are not sure if they can talk that in public (e.g., due to NDA  
> constraint etc.) Having a rigid process up front will remove that  
> uncertainty and expedite the process.
>
> =nat
>
> On Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 1:16 AM, Chris Messina <chris.messina at gmail.com 
> > wrote:
> Adding more bureaucracy will definitely not help things. I imagine  
> that people are resorting to the private list because they want to  
> limit discussion and avoid protracted squabbling.
>
> What would be better would be to develop a set of community  
> guidelines that would help non-board-members more effectively  
> participate in the board@ list. That is, if you want to contribute  
> to the board list, you should be talking about something real or  
> concrete, and not abstract or theoretical (just for one example).
>
> If the tool that we have for convening dialog (namely the public  
> mailing lists) are not serving people's needs, and they're resorting  
> to other channels, we should try to understand what about the  
> current tool is failing them — rather than trying to introduce new  
> rules that require enforcement and therefore some kind of new  
> discipline.
>
> We started writing up a document for this purpose:
>
> http://wiki.openid.net/board-private
>
> It needs to be expanded, and we need to continually harass those who  
> choose not to abide it — if indeed there is no other excuse for them  
> resorting to the private list other than laziness or ... force of  
> "habit".
>
> Chris
>
>
> On Wed, Aug 12, 2009 at 11:42 PM, Nat <sakimura at gmail.com> wrote:
> What about making the motion to conduct the conversation in private  
> list and only when accepted can proceed.
>
> So the thread in private list always start from a motion. It should  
> include the sunset for the thread as well.
>
> =nat at Tokyo via iPhone
>
>
> On 2009/08/12, at 8:39, David Recordon <david at sixapart.com> wrote:
>
> While this was a hot topic of discussion around the Board election  
> almost a year ago, we as an organization seem to have slipped back  
> into a pattern of using the board-private mailing list in many  
> situations where it is unnecessary to do so.  I would like to see us  
> discuss our existing board-private usage policy (http://wiki.openid.net/board-private 
> ) in an upcoming Board meeting, evolve it if necessary, and  
> ultimately have the current Board ratify an appropriate policy.  Not  
> only is this important to myself, but members have also expressed  
> concerns multiple times over a lack of transparency within the  
> Foundation.
>
> The current policy states:
> The board-private mailing list is a hidden mailing list for  
> conducting certain types of sensitive conversations pertaining to  
> the responsibilities of the OpenID Foundation and its board. The  
> list should be used sparingly and only under certain circumstances.
>
> New issues should be submitted to the public board mailing list, and  
> ongoing updates about its pending resolution should be made public.  
> The work to resolve an issue may be best be kept to the board- 
> private list.
>
> Dick Hardt provides the following examples of private conversations:
>
>   • Executive Director candidates and their status while recruiting  
> and negotiating with them. Often people are employed somewhere else,  
> so public disclosure is inappropriate.
>   • Recruitment of new corporate board members. Companies will  
> usually want to (or for compliance, may have to) control disclosure  
> of joining the OpenID Foundation. It may be part of a larger  
> strategy that they want to control the disclosure of.
> These conversations are examples that should be kept to public  
> mailing lists:
>
>   • OIDF is looking for a new ED, a new ED has been hired
>   • OIDF is recruiting additional corp board members, a new corp.  
> board member has joined (but not to be disclosed until they are ok  
> with it)
> Martin Atkins has said that "there is a standing policy that  
> everything sent to the private list must begin with a justification  
> for it being private. Other board members can and often do reject  
> these justifications and the discussions move to the public list."
>
>
> Thanks,
> --David
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>
> -- 
> Chris Messina
> Open Web Advocate
>
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>
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>
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>
>
> -- 
> Nat Sakimura (=nat)
> http://www.sakimura.org/en/
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