Hey List,

to show that this is something cyclic, that is happening all over the place and in all types of organisations, here some examples of other community vs hq processes. Some helped get a more robust system in place, others just lead to a fork.

#1 EVE ONLINE

Situation: Space Sim, you fly spaceships. Management wanted to implement an avatar to make it "more attractive" to new players.

LOW: Subscriber numbers went down, CCP had to downsize.

HIGH: Establishment of a player council, which takes part in decision making processes and also has a say in new tech features (hear hear).

#2 OPEN/LIBRE OFFICE

Situation: Business interest and top down management decision angered community - noone wanted to step down.

LOW: Fork, Sun lost.

HIGH: Man, libre office has all the nicest features and the apache foundation keeps open office up too.

I just post this to show you the chances and dangers of this situation - if handled right it can be an asset - or not.

Cheers,

g