RE: [eclipse.org-planning-council] RE:[eclipse.org-membership-at-large]

["Mike Milinkovich" <mike.milinkovich@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> What is frustrating me about this project proposal is that there is
> already a track record for potential diverse participation. This isn't
> a brand-new piece of technology with no history, it's the evolution of
> an existing platform. 

Doug,

I am sorry, but that is an incorrect assumption. E4 is a much more interesting story than just fixing a few bugs or adding some new features. 

I recognize that the simple fact that everyone does not already know all about E4 is not optimal. But the team made a decision that starting this conversation with no code was the wrong approach. We can all second guess whether that was the right decision, but personally I believe strongly it was. This is much closer to a new project than you might expect, and I really believe that code was needed to demonstrate the vision. If for no other reason than, as a personal datapoint, I would have called "bullshit" if I hadn't actually seen it running.

In addition, the plan of starting the conversation with running demo code at EclipseCon was reviewed and approved by the Board back in December. It is my personal screw up that the minutes of the Board meeting are not sitting on the website for all to see. They are written. They are approved. They're just not converted to HTML and posted. That failure in transparency is my fault, not the E4 team's. Mea culpa.

This is basically demo code we are talking about here. Code to capture the imagination of developers so that they will want to participate in something new and exciting. EclipseCon marks the *start* of that conversation. Not the end. Not the middle. The very beginning.

Mike Wilson, Boris and others have committed that E4 is going to be an open and diverse project and we should give them the opportunity to make that happen. They recognize that business-as-usual is not going to cut it for E4, and they are looking for the involvement and participation of the community. Their honesty and integrity in making those commitments needs to be respected.

I strongly encourage everyone to go to EclipseCon, attend the E4 talks, and get engaged. 

P.S. FWIW, I love the fact that we are having a good old-fashioned email debate, and I very much respect the fact that you (Doug) asked the questions that got this conversation started. The Eclipse community is usually too quiet for my liking. Why do I suspect I might someday regret saying that? :-)