openSUSE Introduces First Community Elected Board
by Kristin Shoemaker - Oct. 29, 2008Comments (1)- Related Blog Posts
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In September, the openSUSE project urged its contributors and members to help choose a new board. The board was to consist of two Novell-affiliated and two non-Novell members chosen by the community, and chaired by a fifth Novell-appointed member.
Earlier this week, the results of the board election were announced. Community participation was impressive, with 178 of the 237 eligible voters casting at least one of the four votes (two for each category) they were allowed.
The community elected board is a mix of familiar faces and new blood. Pascal Bleser and Federico Mena-Quintero will be serving on the board for a second time (they also sat on the previous, Novell-appointed board). The new board members are Helping Hands coordinator Bryen Yunashko and Novell's Henne Vogelsang. They are joined by a new chairman, Michael Loeffler.
Because two votes were allowed in each category (Novell-affiliated seats and non-Novell seats), the number of votes each candidate received not only determined board membership, but term length. Pascal Bleser and Henne Vogelsang will serve two year terms, and Mena-Quintero and Yunashko will serve one year terms, with their seats coming up for election this time next year.
The openSUSE board acts as a point of contact for the community, to facilitate communication within the community and express community ideas and interests to Novell.
