I'm a little disheartened, to say the least, at the responses to this
conversation thus far. I believe that Gilbert raised completely valid
concerns and constructive criticism in a professional manner, that were
neither personal nor directed at any individual in particular. Speaking to
his concerns, I can attest that these are shared by myself personally, and
at least a few others as well (who may not be as willing to speak
up, especially after seeing how it is being received now!). The responses
received seem defensive, hostile, and apprehensive to an active and
long-term member of the UNIDATA community. I would hope that as
professionals we would be able to have a more open and honest conversation,
that frankly goes beyond "Developers prerogative." Ultimately, it all leads
me to wonder whether the community is actually valued or not at UNIDATA,
beyond saying as such in the mission statement.
I am a fairly new member to the community. When I first arrived, I found
that it was welcoming, transparent, and community-based. Even as someone
who was learning tools like LDM for the first time, I appreciated the
open-source, community-driven, and patient nature exhibited. I am not sure
if I could say the same now. At minimum, it would be nice to have a bit
more transparency about the future of the projects and decisions that are
being made. I don't understand the reasoning for making things walled off
all the sudden, nor understand why it can't at least be explained beyond
"it's my way or the highway." We may not agree, but at least we would have
some insight as to what is going on and don't have to be in this position
in the first place.
Henry
On Wed, Aug 7, 2024 at 4:58 PM Stonie Cooper <cooper@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Developers prerogative.
>
> *Stonie Cooper*
> Software Engineer III
> NSF Unidata Program Center
> University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
> *I acknowledge that the land I live and work on is the traditional home of
> The **Chahiksichahiks (**Pawnee), The **Umoⁿhoⁿ (**Omaha), and The **Jiwere
> (**Otoe).*
>
>
> On Wed, Aug 7, 2024 at 4:54 PM Sebenste, Gilbert <sebensteg@xxxxxxx>
> wrote:
>
>> Stonie,
>>
>> I am not lobbing grenades at those in the trenches. I’m just trying to
>> find out what is going on in the trenches…and I would like to know the
>> reasons why.
>>
>> Gilbert
>>
>>
>>
>> Gilbert Sebenste
>>
>> Meteorology Support Analyst
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* Stonie Cooper <cooper@xxxxxxxx>
>> *Sent:* Wednesday, August 7, 2024 4:51 PM
>> *To:* Sebenste, Gilbert <sebensteg@xxxxxxx>
>> *Cc:* ldm-users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; mcidas-x@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; NOAAPORT <
>> noaaport@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; mcidas@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx;
>> conduit@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> *Subject:* [External] Re: [mcidas-x] Concerns about the future of UNIDATA
>>
>>
>>
>> CAUTION: This email originated from outside of COD’s system. Do not
>> click links, open attachments, or respond with sensitive information unless
>> you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
>>
>>
>>
>> Development in LDM continues, but not in github. That is for a lot of
>> reasons, but lobbing grenades at those still in the trenches will get you
>> next to nowhere.
>>
>>
>> *Stonie Cooper, PhD*
>>
>> Software Engineer III
>>
>> NSF Unidata Program Center
>>
>> University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
>>
>> *I acknowledge that the land I live and work on is the traditional home
>> of The Chahiksichahiks (Pawnee), The Umoⁿhoⁿ (Omaha), and The Jiwere
>> (Otoe).*
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Aug 7, 2024 at 4:04 PM Sebenste, Gilbert <sebensteg@xxxxxxx>
>> wrote:
>>
>> Good day everyone,
>>
>>
>>
>> With the recent loss of 3 extremely valuable UNIDATA staff members, I
>> wanted to inquire UNIDATA concerning several disturbing trends that I have
>> been seeing with the organization. And quite frankly, what I discovered is
>> disconcerting.
>>
>>
>>
>> Over the past several years, UNIDATA has been moving away from what it
>> was funded to do, namely: provide weather data, software, and support to
>> the University community for teaching, and also for research:
>>
>> “Unidata is a diverse community of education and research institutions
>> with the common goal of sharing geoscience data and the tools to access and
>> visualize that data.” – https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/about
>>
>>
>>
>> With this stated goal, excellent software packages used to support the
>> educational and research communities have either been retired. or
>> development has stopped…with minimal input from the user community. These
>> software packages include GEMPAK, McIDAS, LDM (which hasn’t been touched on
>> GitHub since Steve Emmerson retired), as well as others. In fact, McIDAS
>> was sunset without any announcement or input from universities.
>>
>> When I brought these concerns to the Unidata User Committee chair, Victor
>> Gensini, I found out that he had resigned nearly a month ago. This, again,
>> was done without any announcement to the community. The User’s Committee is
>> much more than an advisory board; it is one of shared governance. And the
>> decisions made over the past several years have now culminated in an utter
>> lack of transparency with the recent loss of staff. In a scientific
>> community, the governing process must involve transparency to the highest
>> extent possible to maintain integrity of the staff, community, services
>> they provide, data, and success for end users.
>>
>> This is already starting to have a profoundly negative effect at the
>> College of DuPage, which prompted me to write this. Even though we are a
>> community college, we believe in UNIDATA’s stated vision and have shared
>> our data via our website to all. Our setup here shares the weather data as
>> much as we are able. Without UNIDATA’s McIDAS, GEMPAK, WXP and other
>> software packages, we will not be able to share this data with others;
>> additionally, we will not be able to teach the next generation of students
>> with adequate software tools in a time where interest in the atmospheric
>> sciences is about to peak. As a result, we have started to migrate towards
>> commercial solutions to fill in the gaps. In the first 20 years of UNIDATA,
>> that would be unthinkable.
>>
>> What is being supported? IDV is being built on a dying platform (Java),
>> with apparently very few users, and one of the two AWIPS developers was one
>> of the three people let go. What is left? Two of these staff members were
>> the future of UNIDATA, and the other took care of critical systems and
>> engagement with underserved communities. Who is doing that now? Nobody has
>> answered these questions.
>>
>> Complete transparency has been and continues to be absolutely critical to
>> the success that highlighted UNIDATA’s efforts over many years. These
>> decisions have been made in darkness. Where leadership has been required,
>> silence has occurred. It should not have been left to a terminated employee
>> to make that announcement on his own free will.
>>
>> I am saying this with all sincerity because I believe that UNIDATA is
>> going off-mission. I am speaking out like this because I am gravely
>> concerned that UNIDATA has lost it’s way, delving into areas beyond what it
>> was supposed to be, while failing to maintain and flourish what it’s
>> mission statement demands. The end result has been the loss of critical
>> software and support that we need, as an educational institution. And let’s
>> be blunt here: if the https://weather.cod.edu site went down, a lot of
>> Universities who use us would be in trouble. We know, because we see the
>> number of “hits” from them in our web logs. And, if the LDM isn’t
>> maintained, especially with major NOAAport/SBN feed changes on the horizon,
>> the very backbone of the NWS data feed is in jeopardy. If McIDAS isn’t
>> maintained, our satellite imagery goes away. And despite requests for
>> Canadian radar data and other datasets that can be helpful (several
>> Canadian radars cover portions of the border states reasonably well), not a
>> yes or a no has been spoken to me.
>>
>>
>>
>> UNIDATA, as a DeSouza award winner, I beg that you turn back to what made
>> you great: tried and true, as well as new software…data and software for
>> all of us, and unquestionable, excellent support.
>>
>> With respect,
>>
>> Gilbert Sebenste
>>
>> Meteorology Support Analyst
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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