User:N Reid/sandbox

A Public Statement from the mac-min.org Tech Team or, Explaining Our Actions

As David Burke said of CMUG, "We are, at our core, a family, with all the faults and blessings that come with that association."

For years, Jesse Sng, David Lang, and others have been managing the technical and administrative side of CMUG -- maintaining the website, keeping the listserve software running, etc. -- but, over the past couple of years, and for good and understandable reasons, they have not been able to keep up with these administrative tasks. Over the past couple of years, Jesse has been largely unavailable for technical assistance, and in August 2010, he requested the formation of a team of volunteers to take over these duties. Since then, he has been silent on the list, his time and attentions having been diverted to more pressing issues that our Lord has laid on his capable shoulders. David Lang has also been extremely busy with other endeavors, not the least of which involves the production of Accordance, the premier Bible study software for Mac OS (and now iOS).

Over the course of the months following Jesse's request, we, the undersigned "tech team," stepped forward and put together a proposal for upgrading the online communication capabilities of CMUG. Over those months, input was solicited from Jesse, David, and other CMUG officers on the technical aspects of the proposal; however, it turns out that they meant exactly what they said -- that they simply do not have time to devote to the technical and administrative side of CMUG, directly or indirectly. Faced with the option of either moving forward and implementing the proposal, or waiting for an indeterminate time for Jesse and/or David to respond, we opted to treat Jesse's last statement on the matter (as he is still the President of CMUG) as our marching orders.

With that in mind, we proceeded to implement the proposal, which includes (but is not necessarily limited to) the following:

• A new email list running on Mailman (http://list.org) to address multiple problems with the LetterRip-based listserve
• An updated and expanded website, including blog and wiki features to provide a forum for contributing authors, FAQ, public awareness of CMUG, etc.
• Multiple contact points for technical issues, reducing the CMUG-related workload that might be placed on any single individual (we're all volunteers, with many other duties)
• An additional domain, mac-min.org to guard against CMUG becoming homeless (Jesse is the only individual with the ability to renew the macministry.org domain, so if he does not have time to renew it, we will lose that domain just as we lost cmug.org)

Our position regarding Jesse, David, and the current CMUG officers is that they are just that -- the CMUG officers -- and we have no right or desire to remove them from their positions. We implemented these technical changes at their implied request, and, if and when they are able to provide their input or direction regarding these changes, we are absolutely at their service. We have no desire to form a second organization, a splinter group, a "fork" of the CMUG list, or any such thing. Our desire is to use technology, and our God-given gifts in that area, to assist the CMUG officers in furthering the mission of CMUG. To reiterate, we are not displacing or replacing the current CMUG officers and do not wish to be referred to as an "admin team." This was a term we had used; however, in retrospect we feel that this may have added confusion to the situation, as we do not have any desire to be "admins" -- we already have administrators in the form of the current CMUG officers. Instead, we should be considered, and called, a "tech team" whose desire is to serve the CMUG officers and the entire CMUG family.

We intend to operate with the following provisions and plans:

Jesse Sng is currently the President of CMUG and as such has veto power on any decision the interim (tech) team makes. Silence will be interpreted as approval, and all that is required to disapprove any action or proposed action is to reply to said action proposition in public, quoted fully, and reject it. We agree to follow any lead the current or future President of CMUG dictates.

The exception to this is when public elections for leadership are called for; we believe an appropriate date for this is the beginning of May, 2011. Once public elections have been made, and a President has been elected by the CMUG membership, the current President will no longer hold that role and the elected President will have the full authority and respect that position entitles. Elections will be for all offices and positions, which had been previously described in public. We would suggest the election process and nominations begin at the beginning of April, 2011 to provide appropriate lead time before elections.

Please note that while the existing "managers" of the interim (tech) team may nominate themselves for positions, we recognize and understand that the resulting positions will be given to those rightfully elected by the members of CMUG; if it turns out that none of the interim (tech) team are elected, then we will provide appropriate information (passwords, administrative information, etc.) to those elected. There are no reservations here.

Jesse is free to veto the elections before they are held if he does not feel public elections best serve the interests of CMUG.

In His service,

The mac-min.org tech team

Brian Braunschweiger Vincent Danen Jon Gardner Rory Gillespie Aaron Hunyady Scotte Meredith Clive Read Neville Reid Faithe Thomas

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