[Sugar-devel] community influence on development

[Tomeu Vizoso]

On Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 17:51, Greg Smith<gregsmithpm at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Guys,
>
> I'm reluctant to dive in to a full blown process discussion but I'm
> not opposed to others doing that :-)
>
> Nonetheless, this is a recurring theme which is a barrier to developer
> engagement so I'll put in my 2 cents.
>
> A few weeks ago we exchanged some e-mails abut how to update the wiki
> and get things on the roadmap (e.g.
> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/sugar-devel/2009-July/016271.html).
> As I got in to it, I realized that I don't have enough detail yet to
> follow that process effectively.
>
> Is the current roadmap building system working for other deployments
> and/or developers?

Works for me, but may be a bit early to tell. What I know for sure is
that we don't have it nailed down yet and we'll need to improve it
with as time passes.

> In order to gather the data and prepare meaningful requests, I decided
> to dig in to the details of a single deployment. My strategy there is
> described in this e-mail:
> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/sugar-devel/2009-July/016906.html
>
> Still working on that. End goal is a Trac query w/bug IDs relevant for
> GPA. Each bug  tied to a lesson plan or class activity so designs and
> details can be quickly validated against the use cases. With bug query
> in hand, I plan to send it repeatedly to the list until I find
> developers to work on them.
>
> Will that strategy work for others? Dan and Bastien, do you have a
> link to the list of things your deployments need?

Sounds like a good strategy, from my POV.

> I can work with a motivated volunteer to collect all incoming ideas
> but I'm not in a position to do that myself right now.
>
> If each deployment had a prioritized and detailed list we could
> aggregate those and find things which solve problems for lots of
> customers at once. Then we're ready to define a roadmap.
>
> In my experience, its 5 - 10 interactions to nail down a feature/bug
> fix for a specific customer. e.g. find a problem or need, communicate
> it, respond to clarifying questions, try work arounds, go back to user
> and validate source of the issue, gather design ideas, validate design
> ideas, check them against original problem, etc.
>
> Its also at least 6 months from feature/bug submission to deployed
> software in the school. So its not easy! Hang in there and keep laser
> focused on a few top items until you get them.
>
> The key is to have all the gritty detail ready in advance so you can
> move a feature/bug through the steps quickly once you get developer
> attention.
>
> I'm working on the GPA list (see:
> http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Gardner_Pilot_Academy). If others have
> lists of requirements, send them out. Then perhaps Simon, Tomeu et al
> can link to them from some Roadmap creation page. We may be further
> along than we think.

What about entering Feature pages? Or is that intended to happen only
once we have a technical plan for the feature?

http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Features/Policy

Thanks,

Tomeu

> HTHs. Comments, corrections and additions welcome.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Greg S
>
> Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 20:58:04 +0800
> From: Bastien <bastienguerry at googlemail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Sugar-devel] community influence on development
> To: Tomeu Vizoso <tomeu at sugarlabs.org>
> Cc: sugar-devel <sugar-devel at lists.sugarlabs.org>
> Message-ID: <87zlap0xsz.fsf at bzg.ath.cx>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
> Tomeu Vizoso <tomeu at sugarlabs.org> writes:
>
>> About having a person at every deployment, some months ago I started
>> creating this list of contacts:
>>
>> http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Deployment_Team/Places
>
> Thanks for the reminder.  My idea was more to have only *one* person in
> Sugar responsible to get/filter/dispatch deployments feedback - just as
> Greg was answering requests from various horizons (cc'ing Greg to this
> thread.)
>
>> Maybe this time we'll have more luck having people listed there?
>
> Yes - but I'm afraid having the role I mention above is the only way to
> "activate" the list in Deployment_Team/Places
>
>> Btw, why is this thread in sugar-devel instead of in IAEP?
>
> (Well, I'm just a bit cautious about threads jumps...)
>
> --
>  Bastien
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