Open Governance

Benjamin Mako Hill has generously agreed to join us for a live chat this Saturday. (This has all been Greg's doing really - but unfortunately he is traveling to China and won't be able to join us, so I am helping out). For those who don't know Mako, here is some background:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Mako_Hill
  
• http://mako.cc/

It would be great to get a show of hands to see how will be able to make it. Please post a reply in the forum (maybe with a specific question you'd like to address) if you are planning to join us. I would be happy to just speak with Mako one-on-one for an hour about open governance, but of course it will be more fun in a small group. Bring questions!

We'll use the P2PU conference call line again: +1 415 763 5901. 

• 7:59 AM - San Francisco (Saturday morning)
  
• 4:59 (16:59) PM - Berlin (Saturday)
• 11:59 (23:59) PM - Tokyo (Saturday night)

Some topics Greg suggested to Mako:

1) What did you see as the problems in other communities that you were trying to avoid with the newly formed Ubuntu project? And how did you attempt to address/avoid those problems?

2) In my first blog post assignment for this course I mentioned how I see much of the transmission of the social norms in the Ubuntu community is done through process (Membership approval, which I am on the America's board for, QA Team, MOTU, etc) but I failed to contrast that with the Ubuntu CoC. How do you see the relation of the CoC to the creation and transmission of social norms within the community?

3) One of the initial articles we read for this class was about a troop of baboons that lost most of their alpha-male figures due to a freak accident. The resulting culture of that baboon troop was much more welcoming and gentle. This persisted even after new males joined the
group due to, it is believe, the fact that the females greeted the new males more openly and sooner than they normally would have. Even though most FLOSS projects have a SABDFL or similar role, what mechanism do you envision could be used to mitigate some of the negative effects of that figure? This should not preclude simply saying "have a nicer alpha-male."

4) What were the lessons you learned from the creation of the founding documents/processes of the Ubuntu community and the subsequent real world testing of those materials? Anything specific you would suggest to individuals working to create a culture of Open Governance in their community, FLOSS project or not?