[OOTB-hive] Perception of Order of the Bee

[Oksana Kurysheva]

Hello Richard, 

This statement caused many disputes between members of the Order. Finally we published it in September, you are right. It was a time of difficult disputes in the Order. In any case we discussed only today with Boriss that we should update our mission on the website because it should comply our by-laws. 
Please do not worry, we are going to remove this statement in the nearest days after we agree on the new text. As we discussed before, we are going to provide packages that will include Alfresco Community + some add-ons + custom install scripts. It is a goal of the DISTRO committee. But we are not going to fork Alfresco or to provide any services to your customers as the Order. 

Best regards, 
Oksana 

----- Original Message -----

From: "Richard Esplin" <richard.esplin at alfresco.com> 
To: ootb-hive at xtreamlab.net 
Sent: Thursday, October 16, 2014 10:03:16 PM 
Subject: Re: [OOTB-hive] Perception of Order of the Bee 

Sending this email resulted in my being directed to the current mission of 
Order of the Bee as stated on the web site. Clause 4 of the mission currently 
states "we may be forced to fork if Alfresco Software takes an action contrary 
to the idea of open source". I'm not sure how I missed the conversation about 
the detailed mission statement, but it was added to the web site in early 
September while I was heads-down with Summit. 

I can see why Alfresco employees who read this message take it as a threat. It 
was pointed out to me by Alfresco employees who feel uncomfortable being 
affiliated with Order of the Bee due to this clause. Based on the list archives, 
it is not just employees of Alfresco who don't want to be associated with a 
movement to fork the Alfresco community. 

And based on the list archives, I don't think anyone in the Order is seriously 
considering a fork at this time. 

The Order of the Bee mission is to "guarantee the existence of Alfresco 
Community Edition as a free/libre open source solution for document 
management." We all agree on this. And we all recognize that a fork would be 
one way to fulfill that guarantee. I think explicitly calling that out in the 
mission creates an antagonistic impression that is not in the best interests 
of the Order. 

I suggest that clause be removed from the mission statement. 

Thanks, 

Richard 

On Thursday, October 16, 2014 11:37:55 Richard Esplin wrote: 
> Boriss' email about Summit prompted me to share a concern. I completely 
> agree with Boriss' upbeat view of Summit and the role played by Order of 
> the Bee. It was very positive. 
> 
> I want to caution that we need to be careful to emphasize the cooperative 
> relationship the Order of the Bee has with Alfresco Software. 
> 
> Those who have read the list archives know that the goals of the Order of 
> the Bee are very complimentary to the goals of Alfresco Software. The 
> founding of the Order was motivated by concerns that Alfresco Software was 
> moving away from its open source roots, and the organization of the Order 
> prompted Alfresco management to examine that perception and to formalize 
> the role open source plays in our current strategy. Alfresco leadership did 
> not feel that they were moving away from open source, but they recognized 
> that they had stopped emphasizing it as they focused on increasing the 
> go-to-market capability of the company. Alfresco Software now intends to 
> renew its investment in our open source and developer communities. This is 
> an important result. 
> 
> However, I have heard a few Alfresco employees (not management) refer to the 
> Order of the Bee as "a gun to the head of Alfresco threatening to fork if 
> Alfresco doesn't meet their demands". This perception is not constructive 
> as it undermines our cooperative relationship. 
> 
> Alfresco management recognizes that the governance of Order of the Bee 
> provides a useful assurance to our customers that Alfresco is truly an open 
> source alternative for content management. We also recognize that no product 
> will meet everyone's needs, and one of the strengths of open source is that 
> people can fork at any time to meet their own objectives. 
> 
> We also recognize that many of the goals of the Order of the Bee are around 
> filling gaps where Alfresco should do a better job in nurturing our open 
> source community. We are humbled to admit our deficiencies, but we are 
> grateful for the help. 
> 
> Likewise, Order of the Bee has previously discussed forking Community 
> Edition and decided that is not part of the current mission. So long as 
> Community Edition continues to be an innovative product, it seems like a 
> waste of effort to divide the larger Alfresco community. 
> 
> The perception that Order of the Bee is a group who is hostile to the 
> business interests of Alfresco Software is rooted in misunderstandings and 
> a lack of trust. That will take time to over come. 
> 
> Likewise, I sense that there are many members of the Order of the Bee who do 
> not trust Alfresco management. Though I might not always agree with the 
> company's course, I feel that they have been transparent in setting a 
> course, following it, and explaining when it changes. I am optimistic that 
> open source is again an explicit part of our strategy. It will take time 
> for the community to see the results of these efforts, and those who only 
> want to see the problems will probably never be convinced. Our execution 
> has always had gaps, but members of the Order of the Bee can help recognize 
> the good things Alfresco Software is doing. 
> 
> Having personally spoken with the leaders of both Alfresco Software and 
> Order of the Bee, I see trust consistently growing. I recommend we be 
> cautious to create an atmosphere that nurtures trust and collaboration. We 
> need to be aware that some of our jokes undermine that trust, some of our 
> efforts might be misunderstood, and we often need to overcome a negative 
> preconception. We need to go to lengths to engage not just with Alfresco 
> senior management, but with employees throughout the organization, as well 
> as partners and customers. 
> 
> Thank you for all of your efforts and enthusiasm. 
> 
> Richard 

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