Hi,
what do we call this now? RFC? RFF? RTDAATARFC (Request To Discuss An
Addition To A Request For Comment)?
anyway...
On 08.11.2005 15:19, Kern Sibbald wrote:
...
Concerning future development of Bacula:
As I noted in the 1.38 ReleaseNotes, version 1.38 was different from prior
versions because it had a lot more contributions. I expect that this trend
will continue. As a consequence, I am going to modify how I normally do
development, and instead of making a list of all the features that I will
implement in the next version, I will personally sign up for one (maybe two)
projects at a time, and when they are complete, I will release a new version.
The difference is that I will have more time to review the new code that is
being contributed, and will be able to devote more time to a smaller number
of projects (1.38 had too many new features for me to handle correctly).
I expect that future release schedules will be much the same, and the number
of new features will also be much the same providing that the contributions
continue to come -- and they show no signs of let up :-)
I'm curious...
Feature requests -- RFCs:
In addition, I would like to "formalize" the feature requests (RFC) a bit.
Instead of me maintaining an informal list of everything I run into
(kernstodo), I would like to maintain a "formal" list of projects. This
means that all new feature requests, including those recently discussed on
the email lists, must be formally submitted and approved.
This sounds good. Seeing how many ideas are presented in the mailing
lists, some sort of management seems necessary. Doing everything at the
same time usually doesn't work, and perhaps a more formalized way to
submit ideas and select what to implement ties people closer into the
development. I only hope that not too many people feel that the
suggested way to discuss new features is overly bureaucratic... some
surely will, but that's life.
Formal submission of feature requests will take two forms: 1. non-mandatory,
but highly recommended is to discuss proposed new features on the mailing
list. 2. Formal submission of an RFC in a special format. I'll give an
example of this below, but you can also find it on the web site under
"Support -> Feature Requests". Since it takes a bit of time to properly fill
out a RFC form, you probably should check on the email list first.
Especially considering that the list users as a whole know a lot about
how Bacula works, and what can be done and, more important, can't be
done with it's design this is a good idea.
...
Once users have had several weeks to submit RFCs, I will organize them, and
request users to vote on them. This will allow fixing prioritizing the RFCs.
Having a priority is one thing, but getting it implement is another thing --
I am hoping that the Bacula community will take more responsibility for
assuring the implementation of accepted RFCs.
So, why do we vote and priorize? Wouldn't it be more helpful to publish
a list of projects, together with information about the curent state of
discussion concerning them, and heve interested developers pich what
they want to implement?
I think that, since we need people to implement things, it's not the
best idea to say "we want this. Volunteers step forward" but rather help
people find interesting things to develop.
Of course the opposite could be true, too: That people already involved
in the Bacula project are more likely to implement something they see
the need for than simply select what they think could be fun to do.
Hard to say...
...
Your comments on this would be welcome -- as well as your RFCs.
Well, you've got my comments, and you will get more suggestions :-)
Arno
--
IT-Service Lehmann [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Arno Lehmann http://www.its-lehmann.de
-------------------------------------------------------
SF.Net email is sponsored by:
Tame your development challenges with Apache's Geronimo App Server. Download
it for free - -and be entered to win a 42" plasma tv or your very own
Sony(tm)PSP. Click here to play: http://sourceforge.net/geronimo.php
_______________________________________________
Bacula-users mailing list
Bacula-users@lists.sourceforge.net
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bacula-users
