I have written up the suggestions so far into a wiki page https://wiki.apache.org/incubator/WhatToExpect
The content is pretty much what has been included in this thread reorganized with a few minor grammar tweaks here and there. If people like this notion feel free to edit the page or continue discussing here Rob On 6/20/13 12:22 PM, "Upayavira" <u...@odoko.co.uk> wrote: >11. In certain circumstances, there are specific people charged with >certain responsibilities. Over time you can expect to learn who they >are, and where they hang out. Your mentor should be able to guide you >while you do learn. If, for whatever reason, they are unable or >unwilling to, you can ask on the incubator general list. If the optic is >too sensitive to discuss in public (eg a potential committer) you may >contact the incubator ombudsman at x...@apache.org. > >Upayavira > >On Thu, Jun 20, 2013, at 05:40 PM, Rob Vesse wrote: >> +1 >> >> Having also come to Apache by joining a now graduated podling (Apache >> Jena) I like the idea of a "What to expect" document and agree with >> pretty >> much everything that you lay out here. I think people outside of Apache >> often don't appreciate how a volunteer organization operates and many of >> your points describe this in terms new folks can understand, as you >> highlight Apache is not that different from many other organizations in >> many respects. >> >> >> I would suggest maybe adding a further point emphasizing the time aspect >> you raised in your previous email >> >> 4A) Don't forget that people here are geographically distributed and may >> be in very different timezones. There may be a significant lag between >> sending a communication and the intended recipient(s) even reading it, >> yet >> alone having the time to actually act upon it. A communication sent >> first >> thing in the morning in your timezone may arrive in the middle of the >> night for the recipient(s) so be prepared to wait for a response. >> >> I think those of us who work in the US or for multi-national companies >> get >> used to dealing with timezones and tend to forget that a lot of people >> come from countries where there is only one timezone. >> >> Rob >> >> On 6/20/13 9:22 AM, "Alex Harui" <aha...@adobe.com> wrote: >> >> >Hi, As a newbie, I've generally quietly watched from the sidelines, >>but >> >now I'm jumping in. >> > >> >+1 about "expectations" vs "rights". In fact, it occurred to me that a >> >booklet or pamphlet more like the "What to expect whenŠ" book would be >> >better. IMO, correctly set expectations make for happier people. >>Here is >> >my draft of "What to expect when you enter the Apache Incubator". >> > >> >1) Apache is staffed by volunteers, and a few paid, but overworked IT >> >folks known as Infra. As such, there is a very good chance that you >>will >> >get different answers from different respondents, and responses may be >> >delayed. This is not like your paid corporate job where there is >> >administration and infrastructure whose mind-share is fully dedicated >>to >> >serving you. >> >2) Apache has been around long enough and is large enough to have its >>own >> >culture, with its own societal rules and tribal history. Lots of it >>is >> >written down, but it is hard to find. Try to remember the last time >>you >> >started at a new company or team or club and how, even though there >>were >> >documents to read, there was always important stuff that you had to >>learn >> >some other way. Apache is no different, but with volunteers, even >>less is >> >written down, and people's recollections of history can vary widely and >> >nobody is paid to serve your needs except Infra which is overloaded. >> >3) Some folks are quiet, some are noisy, some complain, some are >> >optimistic. If you've worked on a large team, you've probably found >>this >> >to be true on that team as well. Success usually comes from finding >>out >> >which folks you deal with are of which personality type, and how best >>to >> >work with those people. >> >4) Often you just have to be patient. Pick your battles. Prioritize >>your >> >needs. Ask politely once for really important things, then plead >>again a >> >few days later. >> >5) Learn how to use an internet search engine. Try to find information >> >before you ask. The results may be hard to understand or confusing >>and be >> >careful about reading snippets without taking in some of the larger >> >context. But then your question will be better defined. Bonus if you >>can >> >quote a web page as part of your question. >> >6) Some folks want there to be a "bill of rights", but you don't have >>any >> >"rights" because there are no authority figures at Apache to enforce >>those >> >rights. Any "violations" have to be dealt with "socially". You can >>seek >> >help from the IPMC or even the board, but even they are volunteers and >> >will try to address the problem socially as well. You can expect and >> >demand respectful discourse, but sometimes tempers will boil over. >>That >> >happens in many workplaces, homes and other gatherings of people. >>Expect >> >it here as well, even more so sometimes, as there are relatively few >> >face-to-face encounters to encourage civility and limit chances of >> >mis-interpretation. >> >7) Your mentors may get too busy to follow the details of activity in >>your >> >podling. Use the [MENTOR] tag in the subject to try to catch their >> >attention. Escalate to the Incubator IPMC if they still don't have >>time >> >to respond. >> >8) Embrace diversity. Every podling is a little bit different and your >> >new podling may not exactly match up against existing documentation or >> >prior history. Ask for guidance, keep in mind that answers may vary, >>and >> >make your decision keeping these things in mind. >> >A) The primary goal is to cover your and Apache's butt legally. This >>may >> >require you to change build scripts and release packages in a way >>that is >> >painful for you and your customers. >> >B) Apache only officially releases source code. This may be a pain >>point >> >for any existing customers used to downloading binary packages. >> >C) At Apache, open source isn't just about making released source code >> >available. It is about trying to get the community involved early and >> >often before the source code is "release-ready". >> >9) Expect the unexpected. Sometimes, a document you find may be >> >out-of-date, and/or mention things that don't apply to you and when you >> >ask about it, you'll get a totally surprising answer. >> >10) Expect a ton of email. The temptation will be to unsubscribe from >> >some of the lists you are told to subscribe to, but it is important to >> >learn how to filter out stuff and skim other stuff as it helps you >>learn >> >about the people and personalities you will be dealing with >> >post-graduation on occasion, and if you end up on your project's PMC, >>you >> >will be responsible for mining important information from that email >> >stream. >> > >> >Now this may seem like it should make you run away screaming, but it >>all >> >adds up to one thing: This is the "cost" of getting a group of >>volunteers >> >to provide free software to a community of developers and users. You >>are >> >doing a good deed by coming to Apache. You could just go to GitHub, >>but >> >Apache provides some legal and logistical processes that should make >>your >> >customers feel more secure that the code you want to work on will be >> >available to the customer "forever" without fear that some individual >>can >> >disappear and sink the whole ship, or some legal issue will arise >>later. >> > >> >-Alex >> > >> > >> > >> >--------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >To unsubscribe, e-mail: general-unsubscr...@incubator.apache.org >> >For additional commands, e-mail: general-h...@incubator.apache.org >> > >> >> >> --------------------------------------------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe, e-mail: general-unsubscr...@incubator.apache.org >> For additional commands, e-mail: general-h...@incubator.apache.org >> > >--------------------------------------------------------------------- >To unsubscribe, e-mail: general-unsubscr...@incubator.apache.org >For additional commands, e-mail: general-h...@incubator.apache.org > --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: general-unsubscr...@incubator.apache.org For additional commands, e-mail: general-h...@incubator.apache.org
