[FFmpeg-devel] Democratization

[Marth64]

Hi Michael,

> I believe discusion about ffmpeg should be public and on the mailing list
> where everyone can participate
It should be public and people should participate. It can also be
real-time and on IRC.
Clearly this was done in the past.

Literally on the front page of TRAC, there is a section titled "FFmpeg
Developer Meetings"
with a list of meetings that happened in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020.
https://trac.ffmpeg.org/
Why can't it happen again?

> Also as you say "without interpersonal arguments" I see no reason
> for it not to be on the public mailing list
I see every reason for these to NOT be on the mailing list.

These types of threads continue to digress into an airing of
interpersonal arguments.
It's not healthy. It makes people look bad. People get upset.

It is toxic by all accounts. To aggravate this, such email threads
drag on eternally.
This is why I have asked for a real-time session over IRC.

> And still no action, no really, the CC should do its job or the CC should be disolved.
> People asked for the new CC to be given a chance, this is the CCs chance.
> So far i see more offensive mail being posted after the CC is notified not less.
When I volunteered to be part of the CC, my opening point was to be an
"effective de-escalator and diplomat".

That includes applying situational judgement. I am not without a spine
to stand up and say
"Folks, let's have a meeting and hash this out." It is called de-escalating.

I am trying to request that the community has a healthy discussion and
DIFFUSE tensions.
People do that in the real-world by making an agenda and talking through issues,
setting up frameworks for improvements and meeting in the middle.

Does it always work? No.
But I also do not see us having tried beyond inflammatory and chronic
email threads.

> The CC also had no problems banning nicolas and paul for basically
> doing nothing (compared to this) and not asking the people complaining
> to join a IRC meeting to talk about some project issues.
I am not from the previous CC organization.

I do not believe that just outright banning people is a solution.
I will not just give into peer pressure, snap my fingers, and call to
ban people because someone XYZ said so.

If that were the case, in January alone I would be advocating for at
least a handful people to be banned.
I will not be a sitting duck that gives into every request.

Instead I have tried to encourage people to simmer down and be a
positive influence.
There are ways to talk and sort through problems.

> In fact the longer this continues the more people will leave
> And the final outcome will still not differ, people doing these attacks still
> will likely be lost to the project.
Exactly.
And the longer people don't talk, the longer this becomes

> the CC should be disolved
If the community wants me fired, fine.
But please realize that I am trying to establish some sense of
diplomacy by breaking this bad norm of email flame wars.

> And complaints about members and friends of the CC are ignored since several years.
> Now they have become so bold to make outright false claims
Like Rémi said, I was not in the CC last year so I do not have access
to last year's manifest of issues.

Also like Rémi said, the rest of the team had been busy (which is
fine) so I have been doing my best to cover in the meantime.
I volunteered to do the job so I was not going to just sit by idly.

Thank you,
Marth64