[ale] Fedora grousing

[Scott McBrien]

> On Oct 23, 2013, at 10:29 AM, James Sumners <james.sumners at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> On Wed, Oct 23, 2013 at 9:51 AM, Scott McBrien <smcbrien at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I think its great that you guys are using Fedora, but cornering devs at shows is not the best way to advance your agenda.  Filing bugs is one way, but that's just complaining in a different format, it's like being a level zero contributor.  Level one would be signing up for some test days.  But if you really want a voice in the direction of the distro, you need to get in earlier than gold spin.  There is a Fedora QE team, its relatively low impact, but would get you interacting with the devs in a more constructive fashion.
> 
> 
> Guess what? That requires time most people don't have. Telling the
> person who is responsible for the problem that it is a problem should
> be enough. It doesn't matter if that is speaking to them at a
> conference or filing a bug report. Essentially becoming a member of
> the Fedora team is not normally an option.

It's all well and good that you grouse to someone.  You get that great "Well now they've heard it." feeling.  If you don't write it down, you run the risk of it being forgotten.  Additionally, it has been my experience that telling someone about your problem or suggestion is usually not a very effective way to promote change.  Conversely, if you tell then about a problem and a solution, it's better.  Ultimately, if you tell them about the problem and present them a working, completed solution, you'll get a lot more traction.

I've found that if someone is passionate about something, they find the time.  I used to be a lot more involved in Fedora than I am now.  My life changed, I lost some passion for the work, and I moved to another position where I can contribute, but it requires less time.  Having been in the Fedora community for some time I can say the more you contribute, the louder your voice, but they really are true to the do what you want/can approach.  If you don't have much time, there are things you can do if you still want to contribute to the community.  For example, I take care of ordering most of the swag that goes with ambassadors to shows and events.  All in all, I spend about 4-6 hours a month on it, sometimes more, sometimes less.  Is it writing code?  No.  Can I go off and tell Spot what needs to happen with the distro?  Yes, but he probably won't take me that seriously.  However, in doing work that needs to be done, and if I wasn't doing it it either wouldn't get done, or would fall onto someone else's shoulders.

-Scott