On Aug 20 2009 David Crossley wrote: > > Giving this its own thread to raise attention. > More below ... > > > Subject: Re: prompting a release (Was: r19010 ... > > board_agenda_2009_08_19.txt > > > > Ross Gardler wrote: > > > David Crossley wrote: > > > > Ross Gardler wrote: > > > >> > > > >> I just noticed this addition to the board report for Forrest and have > > > >> not noticed a copy of it going to our developer list. > > > > > > > > They are unpublished agenda items, so the dev list is not > > > > usually copied. > > > > > > Yes, you are right, I should have repurposed your text. However, there > > > is nothing private in what I posted so no harm done. > > > > > > >> In short we would welcome someone building a release for Forrest - > > > >> anyone can do it and as David says it is well documented (and I'm sure > > > >> people will come out of the woodwork to help in the odd spare minute). > > > > > > > > Thanks. > > > > > > (just leving the key message in). > > > > I just want to be sure that all developers are aware > > that we are not being pressured to release. One board > > member asked whether there was a reason for not releasing, > > probably to see if they can help clear a hurdle. > > Such pre-meeting comments are often terse. > > > > Ross understands this, and i am sure many others, > > but perhaps not everyone. > > > > Of course it sure would be good to do a release. > > So if anyone can help then please do. > > I attended the board meeting conference call yesterday, > in case there needed to be some discussion about Forrest. > That was my first time. Great experience. It flowed so well. > Those guys put in extra miles, good on them. > > Due to the pre-meeting approvals comments, we could get > straight to the point. The discussion was helpful. > > I will try to summarise. Trying to be concise and not bombard > with links and stuff, but people can follow through if they want.
My summary below is pretty close. The board minutes are due to be approved at this month's meeting and published soon after. Some refinements below to reflect those minutes, and to summarise the progress over the last three weeks. ... > * The reason that we exist is to distribute software. > http://forrest.apache.org/guidelines.html#mission > http://www.apache.org/foundation/records/minutes/2004/board_minutes_2004_05_26.txt > See "E. Establish the Apache Forrest Project" at first paragraph: > "... charged with the creation and maintenance of open-source > software for distribution at no charge to the public ..." > > * Are developers getting too comfortable using trunk? > It is good for us to actually use trunk. But of course > we need to get releases out there too. If we are comfortable > with trunk, then release anytime should be relatively easy. > > * There are Forrest release guidelines already, so that is > one major step. Been refined over the years, even better. > Sure, the process can always be refined further. > http://forrest.apache.org/procedures/release/How_to_release.html > > * It takes effort to be a Release Manager (RM), the one who gets > the thing rolled and rallies the troops to assist, test, and vote. > > * Will you, DC, be around to assist? > Yes. However, i do need to step back. I will still > play my part and assist where i can. > > * Suggestion to break the release tasks into chunks so that > others can help, not just all by the RM. > Yes, we already have that sorted. The release guidelines > show tasks that only the RM can do, and tasks that any > others can do. And lots of those can be done over some > weeks leading up to the release. I have chosen one task (attend to the top-level LICENSE.txt) and am proceeding with a little every few days. Recent Jira changes indicate that some people are looking at a couple of our main issues. However, progress is only a trickle. > * Encourage all "developers" to assist, not just committers. > Yes, we encouraged that last time and people did help > with some phases. > > * It would probably help to have a concise statement about the > status and direction of the project. > Yes, the Forrest PMC had already identified that and some > past discussions have addressed parts of that. I was hoping that someone else from Forrest would commence this, to list the options for future direction. As said above, i need to allow others to do stuff. At the board meeting, i indicated that i would wait for a while and if it did not happen, then being the chair, i will do it. -David > * Release Manager create an actual STATUS file showing the > issues to be addressed before release. Put it in front of the > project often. > Well we sort of did that last time using a text listing from > the issue tracker, sending it to the dev list, and refining > what needed to be done. I felt that that worked well. > > * If it would assist, then a couple of experienced board > members offered to help nudge. Of course they are not going > to "do" for us. They have been through this all before and > would have valuable insight. > > > There is probably something that i have forgotten. > Anyway that is a start. Many thanks to the board. > > -David
