# DevConf.US F2F Agenda

* When: August 20, 2022, starting at 9am EST
* Where: Boston University GSU 310 (also virtual)
* Attendees: bex, Jefro, Thomas, Amy, Shaun, Pat, Davide, Josh, Brian Stinson

## Shifting the Board to Active (1)

* Proposed by: bex (Brian Exelbierd)
* Interested: jefro, Thomas

The Board rarely makes statements either about desired direction or what the project is for. This lack of statements leads to a situation where decisions are turned over to others to make, potentially without guidance or follow up. The Board should, ideally, shift to a more active position where it can articulate the definition of goals and purpose to help the public/community understand.

We should discuss this idea and what blockers there are. Is the Board working as we desire?

While Red Hat is proposing this topic, our goal is not to constrain the project's actions. Instead what we want to do is to see the CentOS Project have the same success that other projects have in the hands-off way that Red Hat sponsors projects.

---

Note: bex's interest is as these topics occasionally arise inside of Red Hat so if appropriate I'd like to offer the RHEL BU's and possibly a larger RH opinion.

## SIG governance (2)

* Proposed by: Josh Boyer
* Interested: Amy Marrich, bex, jefro, Thomas, davide
Explain...

[https://www.centos.org/about/governance/sigs/](https://www.centos.org/about/governance/sigs/)
https://sigs.centos.org/guide/
hyperscale governance (for the record): https://sigs.centos.org/hyperscale/internal/governance/
sig status: https://hackmd.io/duinl774SrOHDuOfU5XLbw

Edit by bex: This came up again in a conversation between Shaun, Brian Stinson and bex. It sounds like there is a need to create a body to help manage the technical side of SIGs (relates to the above) to ensure that resources are shared, we don't do things three times, etc. This group could also help the Board identify SIGs that may have drifted outside of their charter or that don't make sense anymore. Lastly this body could provide an opinion to help the Board evaluate SIG proposals.

Addendum: We have some dormant SIGs. Shaun has just learned that the Messaging SIG chair is no longer able to lead the SIG. Other SIGs are already in the same position. Do we try to actively drum up interest? Aggressively sunset them? Let them sit?

## Ironing out the kinks and gaps in our governance policies (3)

* Proposed by: Josh Boyer
* Interested: Amy Marrich, bex, jefro (tag yourself)

https://git.centos.org/centos/board/blob/master/f/directors/history

Running Questions -
You are bcc’ed here because someone has nominated you for the CentOS
Board of Directors.

This is not an offer of a board seat. Rather, I need to ascertain
several things from you before this topic comes to an actual vote of the
sitting directors.

First, I need confirmation that you’d actually be willing to sit on the
board, in the event that you were selected.

To determine that, I’d encourage you to read this document:
https://www.centos.org/about/governance/director-requirements/ and this
one: https://www.centos.org/about/governance/board-responsibilities/ -
which give an overview of what would be expected of you as a director,
should you be selected.

If you have any questions about anything in those documents, or anything
else about serving on the board, please ask. I’m reachable at
[e-mail], and am usually also on IRC (rbowen). If you
prefer, we can talk by phone or video chat. Whatever you need.

Second, in some cases, directors have had to clear with their HR, Legal,
management, whatever, from their employer to even be considered for a
seat. If this is you, and you answered yes to #1, then please start that
process, so that we are not surprised later on.

Third and finally, if you answer yes to items 1 and 2 above, we’d like
to hear from you about why. Why would you want to be on the CentOS
Board. What things would you prioritize as a board member? Do you see
the board as activist, or reactive, in nature? (Ie, should the board
drive changes, or only respond to demands from the community?) What
changes would you like to see in project governance, direction, … really
anything? The Board would like to see a brief “platform” statement of
what you feel that you could contribute to the project at the Board level.

Thank you, and I look forward to hearing back from each of you.

–Rich Bowen, Community Manager, on behalf of the Board of Directors.

Explain...

## What makes CentOS successful for you? (4)

* Proposed by: @shaunm
* Interested: bex, jefro
* https://git.centos.org/centos/board/issue/8

Red Hat has articulated its interest in CentOS Stream (for example, in bex's [What Does Red Hat Want](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlaC2oiXTZw) presentation). What are other board members' interests? Define success criteria that help us strategize over the next year. Mission statements, Vison, project goals?

## What can we do to make joining easier (5)
* Proposed by: Davide
* Interested: jefro, Thomas

what can we do to make it easier for external projects (and especially commercial vendors) to integrate with centos stream, test on it, etc.
## How should the Board be involved at technical levels (6)

* Proposed by: Josh Boyer
* Interested: Amy Marrich, Thomas (tag yourself), davide

Explain

## Where do we want to be in 5 years (7)

* Proposed by: Amy Marrich
* Interested: jefro, davide

I think this could be slightly related to Bex's item about being more active. Where do we want the project to be in 5 years and what do we think we need to do to get there. I think we're on our way to being more open and transparent with the meetings now being open for attendance, but what else can we do to gain trust back and drive the project. Part of being more open and hopefully getting more contributions is finishing of the CoC and forming a committee but what else do we need to grow?

Mission statement? https://www.redhat.com/en/topics/linux/what-is-centos-stream
Action Item - Pat will work on first draft to be shared with the board by the next meeting

## Improving project communication and collaboration spaces
* Proposed by: Davide
* Interested:

This came up during a few f2f conversations. We should decide what we want our collaboration spaces to look like and start making steps into improving things. Examples:
- consider adoping matrix more widely/officially (either alonside, or potentially alternatively to IRC down the road)
- consider adopting the Fedora Discourse to replace the Forums down the road
- discuss moving the wiki to a static site

## Mascot and Event Name discussions
* Proposed by: Shaun and Amy
* Interested:

https://git.centos.org/centos/Artwork/issue/2

Do we want to create a Mascot for the project and possibly change the name of our events from Dojo