ambassadors "conflict of interest"

Chitlesh GOORAH chitlesh.goorah at gmail.com
Fri Dec 11 07:17:10 UTC 2009


On Mon, Dec 7, 2009 at 10:06 AM, Gianluca Sforna <> wrote:
> Please accept my apologies if this is not the proper place to ask.
>
> I've never read anything against this, so I'm wondering if it was ever
> brought up at all.
>
> Are Fedora ambassadors allowed to also be <put your alternate distro
> name here> ambassadors?

Hello there,

I tend to say yes you can, but after reading the comments of others
I'll now say yes and no.

 * First ask what is the purpose of the Fedora Ambassador Project ?
Please bear in mind here i'm not referring to the purpose of the
Fedora Ambassador. It's not only about events, like some comments tend
to reflect. It's not only about wearing a blue polo shirt either. It
also entails the _quality_ of information being spread, what is the
accuracy of the information being spread and is it the professional
way to do so ?.
   You started this thread not sure whether it is suitable for this
mailing list or not. A Fedora Ambassador was supposed to know the
Fedora Project and how to get feedback out of Fedora Project to the
public and get feedback into the Fedora Project so that things can
achieve efficiently.

 * "Fedora Ambassador" is a title which many people abuse or wrongly
use it. Another question one should ask is : What is my purpose as a
Fedora Ambassador with respect to the core values of the Fedora
Project ? "The love for Opensource". Talking about how good is
opensource is not enough. These opensource philosophies should also be
respected. "Fedora Ambassador" should ensure that these philosophies
are respected. For e.g. there is a linkedin group "opensource X",
however big corporates are posting marketing items of their
non-opensource products there. What is the role of the Fedora
Ambassador here ? Will the word of a Fedora Ambassador gain more
respect than a normal person if one says "Listen keep your proprietary
solutions out of this group" Does the Fedora Ambassador status bring
more people to agree with what the Fedora Ambassador replied ? There
are many cases like these where we(fedora contributors) need
people(ideally Fedora Ambassadors). But if there are no Fedora
Ambassador available to fill this need, then what can the Fedora
Ambassador do ? It is also a role to lead and manage that takes time,
having a dual-title with other group, one may not have enough time to
achieve it.

* "Fedora Ambassador" IS NOT a title for self-marketing. That said, if
you plan to use fedora ambassador title and ubuntu equivalent title
for example and you are not contributing for the proper communication
between both. Then it is pointless. It could also be considered as
self-marketing. Human errors are common. Let's say a fedora
contributor said something pretty bad about another distribution. With
your dual-title, everyone expects you to play a role in restoring the
peace and harmony again.

* Your purpose as a Fedora Ambassador.
When joining the Fedora Ambassador project, one should have a personal
goal to achieve with the Fedora Ambassador title. What was your goal ?
Is it about
  + ensuring communication and sharing between different projects ?
  + using your personal skills to help Fedora Project to get a
professional marketing image ?
  + mentoring new local contributors ?
  + the excitement to complete random requests from both fedora
contributors and public to achieve some sort of communication relay ?
  + ....

* "Fedora Ambassador" fills the holes of Fedora contributors.
  Fedora Ambassador task is not only about spreading the word from the
Fedora project to the outside world (pay attention to the direction).
It is also to help sub fedora projects in getting the deserved
marketing value. That said, a Fedora Ambassador is an ideal person
within the Fedora Community to get promotional material prepared, give
feedbacks about the existing promotional material, find a fedora
contributor to improve both the content and visual aids, see what in
the real life what is the competing product is doing in terms of
marketing and why the opensource software in question is missing to
attract the masses. There are so many roles within the Fedora Project
where the Fedora Ambassador can play a vital role as a leader.

* Dual-title status versus Fedora Budget ?
 Having dual-title reflects time spent on each. Other Fedora
contributors might contribute their full spare-time for Fedora
Project. It would be unfair for Fedora Project to cover the expenses
of this Fedora Ambassador and not on one contributing his/her full
spare-time. It sadly happened in the past, where a Fedora contributor
(actually with a dual-title too) for about 3months of activity was
reimbursed for his travel to an event and during that event he spent
his time roaming from conference room to conference room (non fedora
related). Now he is no longer contributing for Fedora. Could that
money be well spent ? I would love instead to use that more for
creating FEL livedvds. Creating livedvds, takes time in ensuring it
happens. Hence another example about how Fedora Ambassador can
contribute in filling the holes of the other fedora friend, by getting
things done.

Fedora contributors are counting on Fedora Ambassadors in achieving X,
Y and Z with or without dual-title status. However it is expected to
hear (in event reports, blogs, ...) the feedbacks of those having
dual-title status about how the Fedora Ambassador title help him/her
in achieving X, Y and Z:

Kind regards,
Chitlesh Goorah




More information about the fedora-advisory-board mailing list