[Sugar-devel] [IAEP] Project Guidelines posted

[David Farning]

On Fri, Sep 4, 2009 at 11:14 AM, Sebastian Dziallas<sebastian at when.com> wrote:
> David Farning wrote:
>>
>> The project guidelines are now on the wiki at
>>
>> http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_Labs/Project_Guidelines .
>>
>> Please edit as necessary.   When it looks like the editing has
>> stopped, I ask the board the ratify the guidelines.
>>
>> david
>
> I just looked into this, sorry for the delay. While reading it, some
> questions came to my mind: How does this relate to the existing teams?
>
> In Fedora, most efforts have been started as SIGs or still in that state.
> Even the team working on the general Fedora desktop metaphor and maintaining
> the Fedora Desktop Spin is one. So would we have teams, SIGs and projects
> then? Or are the teams going to be migrated to SIGs?

Teams and projects/SIGs are separate orthogonal structures.  Team are
functional based.  They have no life cycle.  For example, the
marketing team provides marketing support for Sugar Labs as a whole.

Project/SIGs are product focused.  The exist to help guide a project
through it's life cycle.  For example, there has recently been some
rather heated discussions about working more closely with Qt.  This is
an example of a idea the could start as a SIG and grow into a project
and be included in the Learning Platform.... if it proves useful.

Currently we are doing some hand waving about how Qt is not worth the
space.  We really won't know the answer to that question until someone
tries.  A SIG provides a mechanism for that, and other,
experimentation.

> And is the Oversight Board going and willing to step into this process? I'm
> asking because it seems like it would be a pretty significant change to the
> board's tasks - at least compared to what I've been told before.

The primary responsibilities of a board of directors in a not-for-profit are:
1. Determine the Organization's Mission and Purpose
2. Select the Executive
3. Support the Executive and Review His or Her Performance
4. Ensure Effective Organizational Planning
5. Ensure Adequate Resources
6. Manage Resources Effectively
7. Determine and Monitor the Organization's Programs and Services
8. Enhance the Organization's Public Image
9. Serve as a Court of Appeal
10. Assess Its Own Performance

The oversight of sigs/projects falls under responsibility seven.  The
existence of sigs/projects help with responsibility four, five, and
six.

david