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Q & A WITH MATTHEW McCULLOUGH
  • Why do you want a seat on the EC?

    I believe I can bring my intense energy, passion for the Java platform, network of development arena relationships, and comprehension of the Open Source community to the Executive Committee. I feel that having an Open Source evangelist and 10 year Java veteran such as myself can bring the OSS mindset to the EC. I am also extremely proud of my contacts in the OSS space, a direction that Java has been rapidly moving towards, and can leverage their wisdom and rebroadcast that back into the EC role.
  • What changes would you like to make happen during your three-year tenure on the EC (if elected)?

    I would like to see the EC become much more transparent and inclusive of the community outside the JCP. Many bright and insightful individuals outside the JCP process need to be harnessed for their suggestions and inputs. While I understand the formality of members actually joining the JCP (legal bindings to contributions, etc.) we should be creative in not acting is if the JCP is the boundary to our world or knowledge. I would personally demonstrate, and encourage others to harness the power of their local JUGs and other venues to get valuable community input.

    Also, I would like to encourage smaller JSRs that have useful micro-features. I see many of the JSRs today as rather sizable, and some most certainly always will be, but I think we need to see an infusion of small additions as well for some really creative accomplishments.
  • The majority of EC members seem to represent big corporations. How can we ensure that the interests of the broader development community are represented?

    This is where I would be a sharp fit for the role. I am currently president of the Denver Open Source Users Group, and have excellent working relationships with the Denver Java Users Group and Boulder Java Users Group. Collectively, there are about 600 members that are on the mailing list for these three groups. Also, I am a small business owner, running a small software and marketing consulting firm in Denver, CO, USA. Being a small business owner gives me that sharp edge, go-get-em attitude, and perspective for efficiency and purity of my goals.
  • How should the JCP adapt to the Open Source movement?

    Again, this is an area in which I am particularly adept. I have helped many of my clients transition from a closed to open model in their processes and software use, all with a net benefit to their financial bottom line, and increased positive perception of their products. This is accomplished through studying successful open models (software, innovation, collaboration, ideation, and crowdsourcing being just a few of the facets), providing some training and education on open models to the adopters, and then following through with some motivations for keeping on the open path. I'd even be happy to travel and give my Open Source talk that I've given to many clients to anyone willing to gather an audience...to JCP members if we could get a good sized gathering.
  • If you are elected on the JCP EC which will be your top priorities over your term:
    • energize your company's participation in the community: submit new JSRs, actively participate in EGs, motivate spec leads to become mentors ...
    • evangelize the importance of standards
    • improve the process
    • other


    My top three priorities are:
    1) Crowdsourcing ideation of new JSRs.
    2) Developing means to accelerate the completion of existing and new JSRs. Maturity and time to stabilize are good, but we work in an industry that also rewards speed, and relevance is often tied to how quick a great idea can reach consumers (developers, in this case).
    3) Getting and motivating JCP outsiders to contribute to JSR completion as a means of bolstering their personal reference experiences during these competitive economic times.
    4) Increasing transparency and contributions from the small business constituency of the JCP.
  • What role do you think standards and standards development will have in the future (if any)?

    Standards are and will continue to be as important in the Java space as they are in any other industry we touch (large print billboards: EPS, small print flyers: PDF, USB cables, etc.). Standards offer the ability for multiple vendors and implementations to differentiate based on quality, performance and support, while guaranteeing some baseline features are available across all implementations. This makes each of the vendors more price and innovation competitive across a given standard and gives consumers exit strategies to switch to another vendor should one of the implementations disappear.