Open Stack

On Mon, 27 Feb 2017, Clint Byrum wrote:

> So, I'll ask more generally: do you believe that the single openstack-dev
> mailing list is working fine and we should change nothing? If not, what
> problems has it created for you?

No, it is not working fine, but that may be normal and the best we
can do.

The main problem I experience with the openstack-dev list is not
that there is too much traffic, but that the perception of so much
traffic means that there are many people who are not willing (or
able?) to participate in existing threads or in creating new threads
because they don't want to add to what they feel is already too much
noise.

This is unfortunate because this list is really the only reliable
medium we have for communication as a group that involves any
significant amount of reflective thinking and synthesis. Since some
people are unable or unwilling to participate there are not only the
information fails for "business" mentioned elsewhere but quite a lot
of discussion happens either in the highly reactive and synchronous
medium of IRC or punted until in person (and again synchronous)
events like last week's PTG, delaying progress.

This is a problem for me because asynchrony allows a more considered
and inclusive participation. But if people are not willing or able
to read the list, then that license is not exercised.

Having more lists won't fix that problem. Being able to carve out
time for the sake of communication[1] could improve it, but that's very
challenging in the current state of affairs.

[1] That is, having not just the time but also the headspace that
allows time to read, reflect, correlate and then correspond.

-- 
Chris Dent                 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯           https://anticdent.org/
freenode: cdent                                         tw: @anticdent