[OOTB-hive] Perception of Order of the Bee
Richard Esplin
richard.esplin at alfresco.com
Fri Oct 17 07:30:13 BST 2014
Thank you for all the comments.
It is fantastic how fast the Order of the Bee has been maturing. I am
struggling to keep pace, and I think Alfresco is too. That's a good thing!
Richard
On Friday, October 17, 2014 00:24:35 Martin Cosgrave wrote:
> +1 to what Boriss and Ole have said
>
> I think all of us on the board have been encouraged by the response to
> us by the Alfresco management and I think we look forward to working
> cooperatively to ensure that Alfresco Community remains a fantastic open
> source product.
>
> On 17/10/14 00:01, Boriss Mejias wrote:
> > Hi Richard,
> >
> > Thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts and what you have observed as
> > the perception of the Order of the Bee within Alfresco. You are doing
> > a great job a Beekeeper and we are taking your comments into account.
> >
> > I'm rewriting the email I sent to the list as a blog post for the
> > Order, and I put a sentence to emphasize that we are targeting
> > collaboration.
> >
> > And the Honeycomb will be a distro from the Order of the Bee and the
> > community, that enhances Alfresco Community Edition, which is a
> > product of Alfresco Software Inc. I think that sets thing as we want
> > them to be... actually, as we want them to bee.
> >
> > cheers
> > Bee Mejias
> >
> > On 16 October 2014 22:15, Ole Hejlskov <ole at phpfreak.dk
> >
> > <mailto:ole at phpfreak.dk>> wrote:
> > Hi Richard
> >
> > I really appreciate your honesty and this is *exactly* the kind of
> > communication
> > we need between the Order and Alfresco.
> >
> > The statement about the fork is going away, like Oksana said, as
> > we have been
> > over it a few times, but you also have to acknowledge that when we
> > founded the
> > Order there was a great deal of FUD in the community. Everyone was
> > scared of
> > Alfresco’s next move, and the gap between community and enterprise
> > only
> > seems to grow, without any clearly defined statements about the
> > future of
> > community.
> >
> > Our main concern, at the time, was that Alfresco was closing the
> > source down,
> > and if that were to happen someone would have to take charge.
> > Do we want to do this? No, of course not.
> > No one can phantom the amount of work there’s involved in
> > maintaining a fork of a
> > project like that. If we’re forced to do so, we might just do it,
> > but we should *not*
> > focus on that.
> >
> > We are all about collaboration, coordinating efforts and helping
> > Alfresco be even
> > more open in every meaning of the word. That is where our focus
> > is, and the
> > mission statement should reflect that.
> >
> > From the time we launched the Order everything went SO fast. We
> > grew to 30+
> > members in the first week, and we’re at 80+ members now. We
> > quickly got
> > recognised by Alfresco, and there has been great commitment from
> > Alfresco’s side,
> > but we are still a very young organisation and we are still
> > figuring everything out.
> >
> > That being said, there are still some people in the community (and
> > the Order) who
> > only sees problems, and does not really (or simply refuses to)
> > believe that Alfresco
> > is serious about their open source commitment.
> >
> > To all of those who still have doubts please remember that trust
> > is a two way street.
> >
> > Alfresco has embraced us, given round applause at summit and
> > overall received
> > us with their arms wide open. We should repay the favour by
> > trusting them, and
> > continue to build a strong and communicative relationship.
> >
> > I really feel that the future will be much more transparent and
> > open. There will be
> > a few mistakes along the way - on both parts. We just have to
> > continue to be
> > open and honest with each other.
> >
> > I hope this addresses your concerns. Feel free to forward the
> > email to anyone who
> > has doubts about the true nature of the Order.
> >
> > /Ole
> >
> > On 16 Oct 2014, at 19:37, Richard Esplin
> > <richard.esplin at alfresco.com <mailto:richard.esplin at alfresco.com>>
> >
> > 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
> > >
> > > --
> > > Richard Esplin
> > > Head of Community Relations
> > > Tel: +1 801 855 0866 <tel:%2B1%20801%20855%200866>
> > > Mobile: +1 801 735 4220 <tel:%2B1%20801%20735%204220>
> > > Skype: esplinr
> > >
> > > Alfresco
> > > Simple + Smart
> > >
> > > alfresco.com <http://alfresco.com> | twitter.com/alfresco
> >
> > <http://twitter.com/alfresco> | facebook.com/alfrescosoftware
> > <http://facebook.com/alfrescosoftware> |
> >
> > > blogs.alfresco.com <http://blogs.alfresco.com> |
> >
> > linkedin.com/company/alfresco
> > <http://linkedin.com/company/alfresco> | youtube.com/alfresco101
> > <http://youtube.com/alfresco101>
> >
> > > Join us at Alfresco Summit | San Francisco, Sep 23-25 | London,
> >
> > Oct 7-9 |
> >
> > > http://summit.alfresco.com
> > >
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > OOTB-hive mailing list
> > > OOTB-hive at xtreamlab.net <mailto:OOTB-hive at xtreamlab.net>
> > > http://www.xtreamlab.net/mailman/listinfo/ootb-hive
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > OOTB-hive mailing list
> > OOTB-hive at xtreamlab.net <mailto:OOTB-hive at xtreamlab.net>
> > http://www.xtreamlab.net/mailman/listinfo/ootb-hive
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > OOTB-hive mailing list
> > OOTB-hive at xtreamlab.net
> > http://www.xtreamlab.net/mailman/listinfo/ootb-hive
More information about the OOTB-hive
mailing list