Salvete! I didn't want to copy and paste, and I didn't want to reply in the same thread, because I think the discussion is turning back on itself again. Josh wasn't at KohaCon, so he couldn't have heard me say this recently, even though I think I've mentioned this in past, at least in passing.
From an organisational standpoint, I think the project is going through growing pains. A lot of new folks are here, which is great, and we still have a lot of people on board that have been here forever. Also good. One of the things that we didn't do at the last convention that I think needs to happen from now on is some sort of community recognition of contributions.
It's hard for a newbie to navigate the straits of the community at the moment, and I think that sucks. I've heard a good deal of folks complain about a good deal of issues, and I've seen other newer folks treating the project in a similar fashion to a traditional vendor situation. Neither of these things are healthy. I also do not like seeing more English and less other languages on this list. I'm American, and I don't want to see this become an American project; I joined for an international effort. I didn't join for a meritocracy, I joined for a more Habitat for Humanity based hands on feel. Even if I did join for a meritocracy, I think we're leaning towards plutocracy and oligarchy the way things are headed. As far as the vendor pages are concerned, I'm for alphabetical order (or RNG even!) by geography. Mimic the UN sort of. (We know their mistakes now, yeah?) I think it would be very worthwhile to *as a community* on the listserv asynchronously develop a sort of bill of rights and a planning document for the project that's not a technical roadmap. I think we need a few very easy to comprehend concise vision sort of statements as a reaffirmation of where we're coming from and where we want to go. Sunlight and no sleepy eyes this way... I also think we have a good kaitiaki and haven't been observing her wisdom of late (or consulting to figure out what it may be.) Or we could argue forever and start forking left and right. My two beads, Brooke