At 06:54 PM 30-07-00 -0600, you wrote:

>I am here because I believe in open source. I also believe that open source
>products are better for my company then non open source products. I
>currently rely on several open source products to run my business and do
>what I can when I can to help out each project. So far this project is
>nothing like any other open source project I have seen. This is
>understandable given the birthing pains but like I said in a previous email
>I am running out of time.

I think you are not alone in this. And email postings are not always the
ideal forum for conveying ones true message.

>Your posts seem to indicate that the final end users and their opinions
>don't matter to you? Is this right? Perhaps it's the opinion of potential
>users that you don't care about? Either way I think this is a mistake.

I totally agree with this. The community surrounding the growth of this
product must always be mindful of the needs of all customers. But again,
in email lists, it's easy for the voices of minority needs to overpower
those of the majority. Our community is different to other OS communities
because we now have the roles of both user and developer. It is important
for the fringe to be heard but not to the extent that it drowns the
confidence of existing customers.

>Right now by any objective critera what you have is mess. This mess is not
>my fault and in fact has hurt me.

It has hurt us all. It occurred on a weekend, a fairly good move if the
intention was to throw the community initiative into a wild spasm. It
succeeded. But we are dusting ourselves off and making astonishing
progress. Some extra obstacles have been thrown into the timeline and that
translates to more delay. It makes it tougher, considering how the earlier
delays have already had thousands of us "on hold" for months.

I'm personally sorry to have gotten into a spat with you, Tim, since I've
appreciated your inputs to IB-Architect and have a high regard for your
understanding of some important issues. I've been left temporarily with a
bigger to-do list than I can cope with under conditions of sleep
deprivation. I agree that I could (and should) have been more diplomatic.

There is no way I, or anyone else in the coordinating groups, would want to
see any perspective stifled. We can get where we are going only through
merging all the points of view. It would help if others were capable of
recognising that the immediate Agenda is demanding but we have no reason to
expect it. I didn't do a good job yesterday. For that I apologise.

Helen.