Open Stack

gordon chung wrote:
> do we know why they're not being completed? indifference? lack of resources?

I would say it's a mix of reasons. Sometimes it's a resource issue, but
most of the time it's a prioritization issue (everyone waiting for
someone else to pick it up), and in remaining cases it's pure
procrastination (it's not that much work, I'll do it tomorrow).

> i like the champion idea although i think its scope should be expanded. 
> i didn't mention this in meeting and the following has no legit research 
> behind it so feel free to disregard but i imagine some of the 
> indifference towards the goals is because:
> 
> - it's often trivial (but important) work
> many projects are already flooded with a lot of non-trivial, 
> self-interest goals AND a lot trivial (and unimportant) copy/paste 
> patches already so it's hard to feel passionate and find motivation to 
> do it. the champion stuff may help here.
> 
> - there is a disconnect between the TC and the projects.
> it seems there is a requirement for the projects to engage the TC but 
> not necessarily the other way around. for many projects, i'm fairly 
> certain nothing would change whether they actively engaged the TC or 
> just left relationship as is and had minimal/no interaction. i apologise 
> if that's blunt but just based on my own prior experience.
> 
> i don't know if the TC wants to become PMs but having the goals i feel 
> sort of requires the TC to be PMs and to actually interact with the PTLs 
> regularly, not just about the goal itself but the project and it's role 
> in openstack. maybe it's as designed, but if there's no relationship 
> there, i don't think 'TC wants you to do this' will get something done. 
> it's in the same vein as how it's easier to get a patch approved if 
> you're engaged in a project for some time as oppose to a patch out of 
> the blue (disclaimer: i did not study sociology).
When we look at goals, the main issue is generally not writing the
patches, it's more about getting that prioritized in code review and
tracking completion. That's where I think champions will help. Sometimes
teams will need help writing patches, sometimes they will just need
reminders to prioritize code review up. Someone has to look at the big
picture and care for the completion of the goal. Having champions will
also make it look a lot less like 'TC wants you to do this' and more
like 'we are in this together, completing this goal will make openstack
better'.

-- 
Thierry Carrez (ttx)