User:Ddemaio
Introduction and Biography
Hi, my name is Douglas DeMaio and I am an expat living in Europe. I work for SUSE doing community management, marketing and events for the openSUSE Project. I started my FOSS life unknowingly with Mozilla FireFox and eventually with LibreOffice while working on my Masters in International Business. My journey in open-source developed well later in my life. I've been involved with the openSUSE Project since 2014. My activities in the openSUSE community involve organizing the openSUSE Conference, sponsoring FOSS events, writing articles on news.opensuse.org, talking about openSUSE at conferences and summits, helping people in the community advocate for openSUSE distro and tools use and many other things.
Aims, Goals, Thoughts
My goal in serving on the board should I be elected would be to support the governance structure for the project and to help the board become a foundation or a comparable alternative. I also seek to get more people involved with the governance of the project as this is necessary for the sustainability of the project.
Role with the board
I'm already involved with the board on a continual basis. I provide updates to the board about the status of certain parts of the project (E.g. - TSP, budget availability, project/event sponsorships, oSC, etc.).
Why you should vote for me?
I believe this next board cycle will need to make a lot of decisions on behalf of the community, so vote for me if you think that I'm deserving of representing you and the project's interests. We need people on the board to progress the project. We need participation in the governance of the project. I do vocalize my stance on certain items and events that concern the project and FOSS. I occasionally misspell words (typos for sure). I listen to concerns and seek as much information as possible before making decisions. I put forth my best efforts to be considerate to people in all aspects of life. I advocate for people, teams and groups to work out their differences by communicating with one another. I network with many people and other open-source projects. With the qualities listed above about me, I feel electing me to the board will serve the project well. So vote for me. Doug 2022!
Questions asked
what the candidates wish to achieve
I’ve given this question considerable thought and I know my response may be considered controversial to some. I would like to see the community open up to the idea of incorporating blockchain technology into the project’s processes and identity. People of younger generations are operating in this space and learning code related to these areas. If the project actively ignores this generational transition and technology that can bring in new contributors, the project is, in my opinion, making a decision of exclusivity. Every time we go through an election, we need the election officials to go through the membership, set up an instance for elections.opensuse.org, send out the info and process the voting. This could be automated with a smart contract. Having an established system where each member is issued a governance token that allows for them to vote would be more simplistic. Making rules like if the token hasn’t been used in (x) years for example it would be removed and this would keep membership constantly measurable. New membership can be approved by a membership committee with rights to issue a new membership token.
This token could also be associated with a badge system (digital collectable/NFTs) recognizing people's contributions similar to how Fedora Badges work. I realize this is not something everyone in the project believes in, but it would be an easy way to incorporate designs and bring in some designers to help with efforts for the project.
what they wish to do
Focus on getting the project to a point where it becomes either a Foundation or make a transition to a decentralized autonomous organization that is built for the next generation of distribution-based open source contributors.
What are their plans
Building a framework for a foundation with other interested community members and simultaneously build an alternative DAO option to give members options for a final decision to be made by 2024.
Endorsements
I think that Doug should have been on the Board for ages. He's one of the people that care about the Project, the Community and has good knowledge about the ins and outs of the openSUSE projects. Vote for him if you care too.
Doug has shown great commitment over the years, and in his role as community manager he did an excellent job in promoting openSUSE and keep the community going. He definitely is a good choice for the Board! - DocB