[HCoop-Discuss] The "Coop" aspect

[docelic]

On Sun, Feb 24, 2008 at 12:30:22AM -0500, Stephen Taylor wrote:
> 
> Co-op is first co-operative and second technically
> adept.
> 
> This co-op probable got going because technically
> adept people formed a co-op. Technical first, co-op
> second.

Well, we have to be practical here. Without skills, we could be just
a bunch of "wannabees" that form a coop and then don't know what 
to do with it. I don't think HCoop would grow much more past
the initial 4 members/founders if they were coop first, technical
second. "Technical" here could mean law skills too - if Nathan
was obviously coop first, "technical" second, we wouldn't trust him
to do the serious work of HCoop incorporation and other
legal matters that had to be done. Likewise, if Adam was 
"Ok, we are a coop now, life is good", that wouldn't lead to 
significant progress in any direction either.

I'm not saying that I personally want to neglect the coop aspect,
or that I encourage to do so. I'm saying that everyone fits a 
certain role within HCoop - the role each one of us chose based
on necessity or their personal preferences - so it is only normal
that, with time, you get to learn what kind of general input can be
expected from each individual person.

While I value technical and coop aspect equally high, I am
largely tuned into the technical aspect now because that's where I
see the work waiting to be done, because that's what
I like doing at the moment, and because I do not feel there are
any negative "trends" going on that are endangering the coop
perspective and that would need special attention from me.

If you do feel that other subjects need to be discussed - 
that's excellent. Your posts can get that thread running in
parallel. Sometimes this requires involvement from Board members;
I hope the next elections with 5 board members will add more
coop-oriented people to our organizational structure, so no one
will have an impression of their concerns being ignored.

At any point in time, there will be people tuned into other
aspects of HCoop (like yourself), which in the end results in
balanced "coverage" of all aspects. And the roles might change
over time, which is all right.

> And sought people with general *nix/web skills when
> they really meant people with skills
> similar_to_theirs.

That's a reasonable necessity. Again for practical reasons it is
not useful to search for people with skills not similar to ours
(and in turn, the setup that we have and need to maintain and 
expand).