And here I thought we’d have a boring election cycle

If you’ve not been following NixOS governance, recently the moderation team decided to all collectively resign. I’ve been informed that I’ve been one of the people that certain steering committee members have wanted to moderate harder, specifically because I’ve been calling out their undisclosed conflicts of interest, and providing actual level headed, direct criticisms that they’ve yet managed to answer.

This is despite their alleged pledge to respond to community concerns. One of the people I’ve been led to believe specifically has been pushing for aggressively moderating me has yet to respond to any messages I’ve sent them in private, which to me is even more odd, they’re not rude, and could likely have cleared up any legitimate moderation issues.

I think that, looking back at the previous steering committee, and even watching their talks at NixCon, it was quite clear that most of them were not really interested in governance. Paraphrasing, most of them said a version of “I’m not the most competent person to be here”, and those were the ones that at least have the insight to make that realization.

I think that many were there simply to add a new line to their resume.

What does it mean for me running?

Nothing. I’ll run. If enough people vote for me, I’ll do what I set out to do in my candidate statement. If I’m not elected, I’ll put my focus elsewhere, and make myself available to any elected Steering Committee members on policy and governance questions, just like the last cycle.

I don’t think that the Steering Committee is the only (or even the most effective) way for me to improve the project and ecosystem. But it is an option I’d be foolish to throw away. And I have much I want to do.

Here is the start.

Process

I’ve read the Steering Committee retrospective from Gabriella. To me, the challenges raised here are of primary concern.

Currently, the steering committee isn’t leading the community. And if the final instance required for decisive action in the project is indescisive, then what’s the point?

So that’s my primary concern. The steering committee should actually get things done.

I think we can solve this.

Transparency

Meeting notes and employers of board and steering committee memeber should be made public - to the extend possible. There should be public logs of both.

Everything should default to being documented in public, including decisions and how members vote.

If the steering committee finds certain subjects too sensitive, they may be redacted, but even then, the fact that a vote or discussion took place should be documented. Who voted for and against - even if we can’t say for what - should be written down for everyone to see.

The steering committee must become auditable and accountable to everyone in the project.

Unblocking Adoption

Flakes aren’t unstable. That’s mainly a naming convention at this point. It is a major disadvantage for the project, and the official installer adds friction.

Flakes should be installed by default. Defaults should be sane.

Many decisions in the project aren’t made based on what’s best for the project, but where measures to alleviate immediate harm. Now those same measures have themselves become harmful.

By engaging with the community, and listening for places where their colleagues are blocked or choosing alternatives to official tools, I’ll correct any blockers with the steering committee and community, and ensure we become the best choice.

I think Nix is a paradigm shift in how we do computers, and I want to convince the rest of the world of that. I want to work with Nix for the rest of my career, and for that to become a reality, I’m running for the steering committee again.

A final question: Will you go the distance

I know a lot of people are scared that they’ll end up voting for someone that will turn passive and be checked out. I am scared of voting for such people. It was a major pain in the last election, that even if I was aligned with a candidate and they got elected, they just didn’t actually push for anything, and seemed to essentially give up.

If that’s something you’re scared will happen, I think specially if you’re a long time community member, the best proof I can give that it wont happen if you vote for me is that… I’m still here. I’d not want to waste your vote.

But I’d also like to temper your expectations. I can only do so much. If you vote for a bunch of people that are not gonna go the distance, then my primary role becomes keeping you updated on why the process remains broken. I can be a voice for accountability, but I cannot be the entire committee.