Re: an apology

Hi Ruben,

In my opinion, the path forwards isn't just issuing an apology, but also actively doing better in the future: it's good that you're committed to doing better, but actions speak louder than words, so only time will tell. (Also, I did receive your email apology the other day that you sent privately to me, I believe Nic A.S. reached out to you privately)

Something reasonable small that the IMEC / UGent team could do is to actively clarify the intent of the "Community Solid Server" project at:
https://github.com/CommunitySolidServer/CommunitySolidServer

It is clearly a project designed for use by researchers & prototype developers looking to explore extending Solid in new and exciting ways, but at present, the project portrays itself as a "community" project, which would imply it's design for the general public to run, with that user group's needs in mind (e.g., easy configuration & deployment, secure by default and scalable for small user groups, etc). 

I'd suggest renaming the "Community Solid Server" to "Solid Research Server", which better describes your goals, and would also address a lot of my concerns that I raised back in November 2022. Yes, I know, rebranding is a bunch of work, but it'd set a clearer message about your intended audience, and also create space for another project that actually addresses community needs to exist.

I think it's great to have a project designed exclusively for research purposes, and to allow researchers to extend and modify the server and its functionality, this is where we could see important work such as the development of a WASM-powered pod storage-local compute model, or additional permissions and security frameworks, which would then result in research papers and specifications.

But we also need a server that's designed for usage by the community, something for self-hosting that's simple to host and maintain.

I think this would also address the recent concerns about the project, and also clarify it's funding and design decisions (because obviously Inrupt and IMEC would want to sponsor a research server, but probably not a server intended for self-hosting, given that'd possibly compete with Inrupt's business needs).


Hopefully this makes sense.

Yours,
Emelia Smith


From: Ruben Verborgh (UGent-imec) <Ruben.Verborgh@UGent.be <mailto:Ruben.Verborgh@UGent.be?Subject=Re%3A%20an%20apology&In-Reply-To=%3C30EAF6CE-7348-4831-92DC-1AC1CAA01C17%40ugent.be%3E&References=%3C30EAF6CE-7348-4831-92DC-1AC1CAA01C17%40ugent.be%3E>>
> Dear colleagues,
> 
> I hope this message finds you in good health. I want to address recent discussions about collaboration within our community. While our primary focus is technical, I have not honored the importance of personal dynamics.
> 
> I'd like to sincerely apologize for any impact my actions may have had on some of you in the past week. If anyone wishes to discuss how I can improve, please know I'm here for that conversation.
> 
> Maintaining professionalism and kindness in our communication is crucial, and I admit I haven't always met that standard. I'm genuinely committed to doing better, which is why I'm writing to you now.
> 
> Regarding Pondersource, I informed them over a year ago that imec was not interested in their solicitations and asked them to please cease. They have not honored our polite requests, leading to my frustration and subsequent unacceptable failure in communication.
> 
> Our core goal is advancing technology, and I take full responsibility for any disruptions or misunderstandings I may have caused. Your understanding and support mean a lot as we work together towards our shared objectives.
> 
> With heartfelt apologies and warm regards,
> 
> Ruben