Nomination of self to Board

[John Goerzen]

Hi,

While I may be too late with this, recent events (including today's
wonderful non-meeting) have convinced me that I ought to put forth my
candidacy for consideration.

My platform is common sense.  The values I support are:

* Transparency.  Membership and non-members alike should be better informed
of the happenings with SPI.  The membership of SPI projects such as Debian
has been generally uninformed about SPI happenings, and I believe this is
not because of lack of interest on their part.

* Effectiveness.  This means actually having enough people present to make
decisions.  It also means acting rationally, with a cool head, rather than
hurriedly advancing ad-hoc band-aids for the crisis du jour.  It does not
mean waiting months to do something, though.

* Order.  Our by-laws are currently vague on many points.  Things sometimes
happen by unwritten rule, or by whim.  While this may work, it serves to
harm transparency and increase the burden on the interested member or
bystander to find out details about SPI.

What I bring to the table:

* Dogged determination to see Free Software succeed in all its forms.
I firmly believe that Free Software is a worthy cause, and will pursue its
advancement as best as possible.

* Straight talk, open communication, with discretion.  I will neither shy
away from good ideas because they are innately controversial nor
intentionally stir up controversy about routine matters.

* Time.  I have the time to attend regularly-scheduled meetings, and pledge
to do so if selected for a position on the Board.  Just as important, I have
the time to give matters before the Board careful and due consideration.

* Experience.  I have been a developer for the Debian project since 1996.  I
was the founder and first president of the Air Capital Linux Users Group of
Wichita, Kansas.  I have written dozens of Free Software applications and
have probably been involved with the development of hundreds.  (A partial
list may be found at http://www.complete.org/).  I have written several
books about GNU/Linux, including the 850-page Linux Programming Bible and I
was a co-author of one of the first books published under the GPL by a major
publisher (Debian Guide).  I have written extensively on the ethical value
of Free Software to a healthy society.  I have fought to promote and defend
Free Software in many avenues, including many of those mentioned above.  I
have the experience to work with a volunteer organization, with members, and
with the public.

Respectfully submitted,

John Goerzen
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