Re: [hylafax-users] new community site

["Darren Nickerson" <darren.nickerson@xxxxxxxx>]

> In reality there's just some people on a mailing list, then every so
> often some voodoo happens and a new release is out. As far as I can see
> there is no board and no benevolent dictator, just some people walking
> in the same direction. I don't consider that to be "a community" as
> such, more a convenient arrangement.
>
> Perhaps the various people who do actually do things for Hylafax could
> speak up and then it might be a little clearer what the community is and
> where it it going.

Chris,

Do you follow the hylafax-devel mailing list? You might want to ... there's 
a well-established, democratic process for releasing new revisions of 
HylaFAX that has worked well for us over many years, and has helped ensure 
that HylaFAX remains "one of the most reliable bits of open source software" 
you have had the pleasure to use ;-)

That's where the developer community 'lives and breathes', and that's where 
all policy matters such as hylafax.org's management etc are discussed. It 
has, at times, been very lively and at other times very quiet, but it's 
where all the voodoo happens. Here's something I posted to earlier this year 
to help bring newcomers and old-timers alike up to speed on the release 
process, and the process of concensus-driven open source development. It 
might help to clarify how these people have been walking in the same 
direction for so long ;-)

-Darren



From: "Darren Nickerson"
To: <hylafax-users@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: <hylafax-devel@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, May 02, 2005 10:41 PM
Subject: [hylafax-devel] How does a HylaFAX release happen?


> Folks,
>
> As I'm sure most of you know, much of the success and popularity of Free 
> and
> Open Source Software (FOSS) relies on the openness and transparency of the
> development process. While the developers, as a community, do strive to be
> as open and as transparent as possible, there's always room for 
> improvement
> in how we as developers communicate with one another, and also with the 
> user
> community. In this email, I'd like to explain how HylaFAX releases happen,
> and how you can participate in the development process. I've cross-posted 
> it
> to hylafax-users and to hylafax-devel, but I ask that anyone who wishes to
> comment or ask questions do so by following-up to the
> hylafax-devel@xxxxxxxxxxx mailing list exclusively. PLEASE DO NOT
> CROSSPOST!!!
>
>
> Q1: So who decides when it's time to cut a new release?
>
> A1: The simple answer is that you do. As with most aspects of HylaFAX
> development, the decision to trigger a release cycle is made by the
> community, using a methodology generally referred to as "rough concensus".
> The process may be initiated by anyone, by dropping an email to the
> hylafax-devel@xxxxxxxxxxx mailing list. There will be an expectation that 
> if
> you have taken the time to compose such an email, you will also have taken
> the time to familiarize yourself with changes to CVS HEAD since the last
> official release, and believe there to be sufficient value in those 
> changes
> to justify a new release. You may be called upon to defend or advocate for
> your position, so be prepared for some discussion! Discussion on the list
> will eventually converge to a rough concensus, and a decision will be 
> taken
> to either trigger a release cycle or continue development. Silence will be
> interpreted as support for the proposed release, so make sure your opinion
> is heard!
>
>
> Q2: What does a release cycle look like?
>
> A2. The first phase of a release cycle is a 'feature freeze', where 
> nothing
> is committed to CVS which adds or removes any significant features.
> Developers should tidy up any loose ends that might remain on work they 
> have
> committed since the last official release and should advocate for any 
> bugs,
> issues and/or patches that they think should be considered before moving 
> to
> the next phase - the beta release. Once rough concensus seems to have been
> reached I will issue a last call for comments, and if there are no
> objections I will tag and release the first beta release. Early beta
> releases will be announced on the hylafax-devel mailing list only, and
> developers will be strongly encouraged to download and compile the beta on
> their setups and test it thoroughly. Each beta will live for a period of
> approximately two weeks. If after two weeks no significant changes have 
> been
> necessary to any beta release, that beta will become a release candidate.
> Release candidates will be announced on the hylafax-announce mailing list,
> which includes hylafax-devel and hylafax-users, as well as anyone who
> subscribed to the -announce list explicitly. If any significant surgery is
> necessary within two weeks of this wider testing, a new release candidate
> will be issued and the clock will start over. If no changes or only minor
> changes are needed, the release candidate becomes a release and I will
> package and announce it to hylafax-announce@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
> Q3: Sounds like fun - how can I get involved?
>
> A3: Great question! Every single step outlined above benefits from the
> participation of as many people as possible. If you're a hardcore 
> developer
> looking for a challenge, visit http://www.hylafax.org/cvs.php and find
> yourself a pet project, or perhaps even a pet peeve. Contribute! You'll 
> find
> the developers in general very responsive to contributions and/or 
> criticism,
> and everyone's welcome to contribute at this leve. See
> http://www.hylafax.org/mailing-lists.php for instructions on how to join
> the hylafax-devel mailing list if you'd like to participate in 
> discussions,
> or just follow along for the sheer entertainment value ;-) The next best 
> way
> you can help is to test the beta releases, and especially the release
> candidates. You can do a service to the whole HylaFAX community by trying 
> to
> break an upcoming release before it's finalized!
>
>
> Q4: What is your role in this whole process? Whose interests do you serve?
>
> A4: I founded hylafax.org in 1998, and got it off the ground thanks in 
> part
> to the particularly heroic efforts of Robert Colquhoun and Phil Watkinson.
> These days my company pays me and a few other engineers to spend some of 
> our
> time administering hylafax.org and the various related services. I'm not
> much more than a glorified secretary in the release process, keeping track
> of when concensus has been reached, packaging up the releases and getting
> them up onto ftp.hylafax.org. I serve the interests of the community now
> just as I did then. For more details on the birth of hylafax.org, see:
>
> http://groups-beta.google.com/group/fa.hylafax/browse_thread/thread/51de9ecf28825270/f958e28af01220af
>
> and for a longer discussion from various stakeholders at that time, see:
>
> http://groups-beta.google.com/group/fa.hylafax/browse_thread/thread/1153d2b98db5a482/5bb8351359e1cee8
>
>
>
> Q5: So with all this talk of a release ... does that mean we are due for
> one?
>
> A5: You're just going to have to join hylafax-devel@xxxxxxxxxxx and see 
> for
> yourself! ;-)


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