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List:       kmail-devel
Subject:    What I almost did.
From:       Don Sanders <sanders () kde ! org>
Date:       2002-09-10 12:10:36
[Download RAW message or body]

Hi All,

I want people to see a couple of messages I wrote and have had in my 
drafts folder for over a week. I was so close to sending these mails, 
so very close.

I don't intend to go through with the action lists in the intent to 
ban subscriber from list mail.

Instead I would just like to show people how very close I am came to 
retiring from KDE development because of what has happened.

Don.


["forwarded message" (message/rfc822)]

From: Don Sanders <sanders@kde.org>
X-KMail-Identity: 562112625
To: kmail@mail.kde.org
Subject: Re: Zero-copy parsing of messages achieved
Date: Mon, 9 Sep 2002 16:01:45 +1000
User-Agent: KMail/1.4.7
References: <200209011823.03240.sanders@kde.org> <200209062254.16411.sanders@kde.org> \
                <200209061321.35127.bastian@kde.org>
In-Reply-To: <200209061321.35127.bastian@kde.org>
X-KMail-Link-Message: 488898
X-KMail-Link-Type: reply
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Disposition: inline
Status: RO
X-Status: O
X-KMail-EncryptionState:  
X-KMail-SignatureState:  
Content-Type: text/plain;
  charset="iso-8859-15"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

On Saturday 07 September 2002 06:21, Waldo Bastian wrote:
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
> 
> On Friday 06 September 2002 05:54 am, Don Sanders wrote:
> > I didn't seek out Michael and ask him to replace me it was his
> > own choice to join me.
> > 
> > I have never renounced maintainership of KMail nor have I ever
> > abandoned the project. It was inappropriate of others to assume
> > that I had.
> 
> The About KMail boxs does not list you as a Maintainer. You did not
> object to that change for 9 months which, if you were indeed the
> Maintainer, you could/would. As far as I am concerned it is without
> question that Michael is the current Maintainer. Get over it.

I vehemently disagree.

I adopted this project during the difficult pre-KDE2 times when everyone else had \
abandoned it like they did KRN. I alone objected to it being removed from cvs when it \
was in trouble. I insisted on this mailing list being set up when told there was no \
point as there would be no traffic. I ignored the jeers and ridicule from people who \
said I was wasting my time and that KMail was dead. I cared for this project and \
worked on it alone every minute of my free time for months. I watched the header \
fields and It was during my most active development period  that KMail became the \
most popular mail client of choice amongst KDE users and even KDE developers.

That gives me right to maintainership of the project.

Yes I've had some hard months where I've found it difficult to contribute actively, \
and other months I haven't committed because I've been working on large disruptive \
changes but I never renounced my maintainership or abandoned the project. I always \
said I would contribute more actively again once I settled down in one place and got \
my non KDE obligations under control. I shouldn't have my maintainership stripped \
from me because I updated the about box to try to give credit to others where I think \
it was due. It wasn't right for my maintainership to be revoked by those squatting on \
the list while I was experiencing challenging times. I never gave permission for that \
and I do not condone it.

Maybe I was wrong not to have spoken up earlier about the latest about box changes. \
But I didn't believe complaining about it at that time was in the best interest of \
the project and I've always tried to act in the best interests of the project.

Now I realize why I think it is in the best interest of the project for me to speak \
up. 

I could live with the solitude of working by myself, I could live with users laughing \
at my work and saying it was crap. I could accept user criticism and respond to it, I \
think I've shown that by playing a key role in making KMail as popular as it has \
become. But I can't accept it when criticism is both wrong and when it becomes the \
accepted truth, and I'm thinking about code criticisms here, sures there's lots wrong \
but not everything is wrong.

I am not immune to criticism and when I see people on this list call me a liar when I \
say I worked on KMail alone for months, when I see that being as accepted as the \
truth on this mailing list then that hurts. It's not a lie and I can't accept it \
being accepted as a lie.

I would like to describe how I feel. It's taken me several days to understand how I \
feel. I feel grief, I feel like someone I love has died. But it's not a person that's \
died it's an idea, the idea of people working together on this list in harmony to \
create a great mail client for the whole world to use. I loved that idea that idea \
was my life. Spending time on this project was like visiting my dreams, but now it's \
like exhuming a corpse. What's that line from the sixth sense, 'I see dead people \
everywhere'. Well I see a dead dreams everywhere I look.

Don.


["forwarded message" (message/rfc822)]

From: Don Sanders <sanders@trolltech.com>
Organization: Trolltech
To: Sam Magnuson <sam@trolltech.com>
Subject: Intent to ban subscriber from list
Date: Sun, 8 Sep 2002 21:16:03 +1000
User-Agent: KMail/1.4.7
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Disposition: inline
Message-Id: <200209071234.41899.sanders@trolltech.com>
Status: RO
X-Status: S
X-KMail-EncryptionState:  
X-KMail-SignatureState:  
X-KMail-Fcc: sent-mail
X-KMail-Identity: 392671901
Content-Type: text/plain;
  charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Fulfilling my obligation as list adminstrator I intend to ban Don Sanders \
<sanders@kde.org> from the list in 72 hours.

His conduct has become unacceptable to the majority of 
subscribers on the list. His actions were also largely responsible for two \
commendable contributors Alex Zepeda and George Staikos becoming unable or unwilling \
to contribute to the KMail project and this is some justice for those actions.

It is clearly the belief of all the core developers except for Don that he is not the \
rightful maintainer of KMail and that if he cannot accept this then he should retire \
from KMail development or fork.

I would note this is the first time anyone has been banned from the list and \
obviously the last time that I will ban anyone from the list.

It would make sense for my administrator privileges to be removed and 
some other KMail developer to take up administration of the list now.

I am still deciding whether to resign from KDE development.

Don Sanders.
Former List Administrator
Former KMail Maintainer.


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