In the past few days I have vocally opposed SlimGems because I feel it is a distraction that is getting in the way of peacemaking when it comes to RubyGems. But this is a bit like attending an anti-war rally rather than a peace rally. I admit that this is my own failing, I presented myself as a mediator without fully understanding what that means. Frankly, I'm tired of that aspect of things, and won't be discussing the politics of this situation publicly anymore. But I have not given up. Here's what I will be doing:

• Reading the public criticisms of RubyGems, whether personal or technical, basically, staying on top of things as they come up.
• Paying attention to the interactions on the RubyGems project so I know how users are being treated
• Listening privately to anyone who wants to vent on either side of the fence, just contact me at gregory.t.brown at gmail.com and I'll be an open ear for you, and I won't be rude or dismissive to you.
• Speaking privately with the RubyGems team on how they can meet the needs of the community and defuse any explosive situations that might arise. They need a place to vent, too...
  
• Working on technical solutions to the various problems at hand. Right now that means I want to work on a backwards compatibility solution (or workaround) for RubyGems users that will promise 1.3.7+ support forever. I'm already starting this process with Evan Phoenix
• Writing technical documentation to help people become more familiar with the internals of RubyGems, as well as how the extension system works.
• Helping folks who experience breakage find out the problems and fix them.

Many people have quietly thanked me for my efforts, but a few have loudly criticized them. I hope the above list of items are less likely to flare up more conflicts. Anyone who doubts my intentions or feels like my way of doing things has been flawed, I hope I can change your mind through my change in course of actions. But if not, I welcome you to contact me privately so that we can share context with each other, something painfully missing from most internet arguments.

I will not be responding to any comments left on this post, but I would like to ask those who appreciate what I'm doing, even if they've been quiet before, to just leave a note here stating that publicly. Many of you have thanked me privately or through a tweet, and that means a lot. But I'm hoping to show the folks who have beaten me up over the last few days that my efforts are not unwanted.