Arek Stopczynski (hopbeat):


1. In your opinion, what should happen to Maemo.org after the merge ?


Are we expecting any merge? Maemo.org will remain separate entity, serving all the owners of N900, N810, N800, N770. The community will be slowly shrinking, but we shouldn't expect half of the users to get to the shops and buy a new MeeGo device on the very first day. There is still some time (few years I would say) before maemo.org can be considered 'closed'. Till then, normal operation and cooperation with MeeGo.


2. Do you agree with the Extras QA process ? In your opinion, we should lower, raise or maintain the current entry barrier for extras ?

In my opinion, the entry barrier for the apps is good. We need to basic things in this area to be done: votes of the testing team need to obligatory and we need to promote packages waiting in the queue more. But the current level is a good balance between number of new apps and their quality.

3. As a new comer here I have sensed a culture clash. It seems the history of Maemo was largely a hangout for those well skilled in Linux and there was an assumption of what was understood and more importantly how the “community” worked. Now with the N900 there is the introduction of those, like me, who are not experts at Linux and do not have a long history of working in the “community” environment. Things like voting for what bugs to fix first, are totally foreign concepts. And yes, there will be some questions that make your eyes roll to the back of your head because many of us lack the skills you have. As this will likely get worse over time as more devices are introduced and the customer base grows, what would you change to facilitate a smoother and more productive co-existence?

As the Maemo device went 'almost mainstream' (N900) and MeeGo devices are expected to be fully end-user oriented, we can indeed expect an increase in number of not skilled users. I don't however see this as a problem, as, together with those users, we should expect large number of semi-skilled and skilled ones. Regarding the skills, the community structure will probably not be Gaussian one, rather you can imagine it as a pyramid (which is ok, one skilled user can 'serve' several new ones). I expect the community structure to self-regulate, with Council role being to make sure that the groups do not get hostile or do not try to take over the whole community (we don't want to have community of hackers, nor the community of noobs; we need to have balance, with strong emphasis on users who feel comfortable with the device and can occasionally answer a question of those less-skilled; a middle class of the community if you wish).
I really like Texrat's idea of Maemo Greeters program, this initiative should get a full support. The very first contact of the newcomers with community (often via talk.maemo.org) is a crucial step.