Yesterday I awoke to find an exciting announcement that I had been appointed Host and Spokesman for the website All Together As A Whole (ATAAW), the Independent Joomla Developers and Site Builders Network with over 700 members. This was great news, and something I look forward to participating in.

This small network of Joomla professionals has grown seemingly overnight with the guidance of Amy Stephen, the original creator of the group. In just 6 short months it's been the launchpad for the Joomla Community Magazine resurrection, gave organizers of the J and Beyond International Conference a staging area for early planning and offers folks a place to hang out where freedom rings and words just flow uninhibited.

It just works and does well at bringing people together. Something the Joomla Community sorely needed.

I spent a few minutes reading all the well wishes and kudos to Amy for all she's done for us before returning to check my morning mail.I quickly ran through the 35 or so new messages looking for the few important bits... free pills, free software, overseas web developer offers and then finally, there it was... My very first mail addressed to the new Admin at ATAAW, from none other than an official Joomla Leadership Team member!

Wow I thought, this must be an important day for them to email me like this. I couldn't wait to open it!

And then it happened. That feeling you get when you just can't believe your reading what's in front of you. Like it's a bad dream you just can't wake up.

The long and short of it is, as long as I allow another member to participate in ATAAW, I am not welcome to help the Joomla.org websites as a forum Admin helping to update their software.

While it said they have no power if I were just participating on an external site, but since I have the power of an Admin, and I'm allowing another member to stay at ATAAW, I'm not welcome to help Joomla at all.

Members of Joomla don't feel safe with me helping on Joomla.org. They don't trust me was the words used.

So here's my response:

I’m truly saddened by this action from a Joomla Leadership Team member.

To give me an ultimatum to remove a member of a 3^rd party community site that I happen to be a member of as well, or give up my position as a contributor to the Joomla.org websites is a  pretty farfetched notion, bordering on the absurd.

This type of iron fisted action by you and others within the COC/OSM/Leadership teams is what’s killing Joomla today. This will not go unnoticed by many others I assure you.

I was made aware today of some of the statements made in the past by this member you seek to exile and it’s sounds to me as though the man may have a problem we don’t know about, but he needs help, not cast out of all communities that you can email the admin about.

I find this ridiculous and personally, I will take this opportunity to remove my request to help the Joomla Project as of today. No need to tell me where to get off that train. I’m getting off at this stop.

Basically I'm being told to remove a member from ATAAW or I'm not welcome in the Joomla Project. That's pretty shitty if you ask me.

So the question is, have you ever been bullied by leadership of an Open Source project to the extent of this? I would love to hear your comments on the subject.

Thanks!

RV