Hi Andreas,

I am very happy you decided to run.  With all the advancements going on we
really need to focus on making it easier for people to contribute.  

This is a great step in the write direction.  :) 

This is a very exciting year to be in the Squeak / Smalltalk communities.

Thanks you for running!

Ron Teitelbaum

> -----Original Message-----
> From: squeak-dev-bounces at lists.squeakfoundation.org [mailto:squeak-dev-
> bounces at lists.squeakfoundation.org] On Behalf Of Andreas Raab
> Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2009 12:02 AM
> To: The general-purpose Squeak developers list
> Subject: [squeak-dev] Re: On the upcoming Leadership Election
> 
> Igor Stasenko wrote:
> > So far i've collected 5 messages..
> > Hey, wake up! We need more! :)
> 
> You're right. After some careful consideration I've decided to throw my
> hat in the ring as well. Count me in.
> 
> I'm doing this with a clear agenda: I want to (re-)enable a process by
> which contributions flow into Squeak, both small and large. From my
> point of view somewhere along the way we've lost the ability to pick up
> contributions, to continually improve Squeak. Except from small bug
> fixes and enhancements there is no process by which we can decide
> whether a particular contribution should be included, whether a
> particular turn in the development of Squeak should be taken, whether a
> change is worth the risk that comes with it.
> 
> We are not a benevolent dictatorship. We will have to find other means
> of making such decisions. However, finding a way to make such decisions
> is absolutely critical if we want to progress. Right now there is a
> variety of improvements out there that nobody has looked at simply
> because there is no process for making decisions. Examples include
> Freetype rendering, Hydra, Rio, Nile, Gstreamer support, Polymorph,
> Omnibrowser, but also things like Databases (SqueakDBX, ODBC), or even
> Seaside, Aida etc. There are questions about minimalistic Morphic,
> FunSqueak, Etoys etc. All of these should be open for discussion, some
> of them will end up being external packages, others may end up being
> bundled (via Universes or similar mechanisms) and yet others may go
> straight into the release image.
> 
> All of the above exist. These aren't projects that someone will only
> start if given assurances about their outcome. Rather than making
> wish-lists about projects that nobody is working on, I'd like to see
> more requests for the integration of work that has been done already.
> This is the kind of stuff where the board can decide on, assign a
> liaison to ensure integration and get things done that way.
> 
> Similarly, Keith and Ken are building some fantastic tools for getting
> stuff out of Mantis. Why not build a network of trust for people who can
> add candidates to the next Squeak version which is rooted at the board?
> In other words, if you have been blessed by any of the board members,
> you could add your fix straight to the next alpha build.
> 
> The above are all examples of things we can try. I'm not saying any of
> those is the right solution but I am asking for a mandate in trying to
> establish a process that will allow us to continually improve Squeak.
> 
> Cheers,
>    - Andreas
>