Open Stack

Excerpts from James Bottomley's message of 2016-07-20 08:31:34 -0700:
> So this is where the Open Source method takes over.  Change is produced
> by those people who most care about it because they're invested.  To
> take your Cinder example, you're unlikely to find them within Cinder
> because any project has inertia that resists change.  It takes the
> energy of the outside group X to force the change to Y, but this means
> that X often gets to propose, develop and even code Y.  Essentially
> they become drive by coders for Cinder.  This is where Open Source
> differs from Enterprise because you have the code and the access, you
> can do this.  However, you have to remember the inertia problem and
> build what you're trying to do as incrementally as possible: the larger
> the change, the bigger the resistance to it.  It's also a good test of
> the value of the change: if group X can't really be bothered to code it
> (and Cinder doesn't want it) then perhaps there's not really enough
> value in it anyway and it shouldn't happen.
> 

Thanks so much for stating this James. I couldn't agree more. A group
that can actually _accomplish_ change, and not just suggest it, is
exactly what we're working to start with the architecture WG. There are
plenty of people with the will to change, and I feel strongly that if
those people are given a structure and support, then they'll find the
time and space to complete these objectives.

I just want to make one nuance point about Cinder changes: the recent
DLM work, done outside any architecture working group, did actually come
from both inside and outside Cinder. The Cinder team realized something
was happening that would perhaps affect everyone, and raised it to the
cross-project level, which helped external individuals get involved. So
these initiatives can come from either direction. The key is that enough
momentum builds up to counter the natural inertia that you mentioned in
your message.