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GLEP: 7
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Title: New ombudsman position
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Version: $Revision: 1.3 $
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Last-Modified: $Date: 2003/06/10 17:33:02 $
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Author: Grant Goodyear <g2boojum@gentoo.org>,
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Status: Draft
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Type: Standards Track
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Content-Type: text/x-rst
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Created: 6-Jul-2003
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Post-History:
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Abstract
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========
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This GLEP proposes that we extend the current proposed management
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structure by adding a position of Ombudsman that would fall under
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devrel, qa, and pr. An ombudsman is one who has been assigned to
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*impartially* investigate complaints and settle disputes.
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Motivation
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==========
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Given the impressive numbers of both Gentoo developers and users, it is
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inevitable that there will be occasional clashes between developers and
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managers, developers and developers, and developers and users. Right
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now there is no mechanism to prevent such disputes from escalating out
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of control.
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Specification
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=============
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One developer (and one backup) will be appointed as ombudsmen. This
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positions should be far from a full-time job. It would appear as part
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of the devrel, qa, and pr projects (inasmuch as qa and pr both involve
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developer-user relations). Infrastructure requirements are an
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ombudsman.gentoo.org web page and a ombudsman@gentoo.org e-mail
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alias.
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Rationale
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=========
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One traditional method (circa early 1800s in Sweden, apparently [#RIT]_)
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for managing disputes is to have an impartial individual whose job it
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is to investigate complaints and mediate settlements. A quick search
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on Google [#GOOGLE]_ reveals numerous government agencies, universities,
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and industries that employ official ombudsmen. The key requirement for
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an ombudsman to be effective is support from management and trust from
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users and developers -- the ombudsmen must be considered by all to be
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reasonably impartial.
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Backwards Compatibility
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=======================
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No conflicts.
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References
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==========
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.. [#RIT] http://www.rit.edu/~022www/defhis.shtml
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.. [#GOOGLE] http://www.google.com
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Copyright
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=========
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This document has been placed in the public domain.
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