Author: orcmid Date: Sat Feb 20 22:07:05 2016 New Revision: 1731487 URL: http://svn.apache.org/viewvc?rev=1731487&view=rev Log: Extract of OpenOffice Report from the Approved 2016-01-20 Board Minutes
Added: openoffice/pmc/BoardReportsArchive/2016-01-20-AOO-FINAL.txt (with props) Added: openoffice/pmc/BoardReportsArchive/2016-01-20-AOO-FINAL.txt URL: http://svn.apache.org/viewvc/openoffice/pmc/BoardReportsArchive/2016-01-20-AOO-FINAL.txt?rev=1731487&view=auto ============================================================================== --- openoffice/pmc/BoardReportsArchive/2016-01-20-AOO-FINAL.txt (added) +++ openoffice/pmc/BoardReportsArchive/2016-01-20-AOO-FINAL.txt [UTF-8] Sat Feb 20 22:07:05 2016 @@ -0,0 +1,303 @@ + The Apache Software Foundation + + Board of Directors Meeting Minutes + + January 20, 2016 + + ABRIDGED VERSION TO FOCUS ON MATTERS RELATED TO APACHE OPENOFFICE + Authoritative full version at +<http://www.apache.org/foundation/records/minutes/2016/board_minutes_2016_01_20.txt> + +[ ... ] + 6. Committee Reports + +[ ... ] + AT. Apache OpenOffice Project [Dennis E. Hamilton / Shane] + + See Attachment AT + +[ ... ] + +============ +ATTACHMENTS: +============ + +[ ... ] + +----------------------------------------- +Attachment AT: Report from the Apache OpenOffice Project [Dennis E. Hamilton] + +DESCRIPTION +=========== + +Apache OpenOffice is an open-source, office-document productivity +suite providing six productivity applications based around the +OpenDocument Format (ODF). OpenOffice is released on multiple +platforms and in dozens of languages. + +STATUS +====== + +The Project succeeded with maintenance release 4.1.2 on October 28. +This is a significant milestone and the first release in 14 months. + +Warning signs around sustainability and disconnects across the +community are being brought gradually and gingerly to community +attention. + +ISSUES FOR BOARD AWARENESS +========================== + +The Board needs to be aware of Activity concerns and Sustainability +warning signs reported/reviewed in the Issues sections, below. + + +RELEASES +======== + +Release 4.1.2 was approved on October 26 and announced as available on +2015-10-28. In addition, Java UNO tools for Maven, jar files of AOO 4.1.2 +components for independent usage, were distributed on 2015-12-21. + +Complete Release History + 2015-10-28 4.1.2 + 2014-08-21 4.1.1 + 2014-04-29 4.1 + 2013-10-01 4.0.1 + 2013-07-17 4 + 2013-01-30 3.4.1 refresh (8 more languages) + 2012-08-21 3.4.1 incubating + 2012-05-08 3.4 incubating + + +ACTIVITY +======== + +Release Effort and Plans +------------------------ + +Non-4.1.2-release-blocker issues and some anticipated features were +retargeted to a subsequent Apache OpenOffice release in order to +accelerate release of 4.1.2. + +Improvements for performing unit testing have been introduced by +introducing Google Test in place of cppunit. Some finalization +is needed to have the changes work for Windows builds. + +There is not yet any action plan or staging for releases beyond +October's 4.1.2. There are no projected release dates. + +Community Operations +-------------------- + +The Apache OpenOffice community has three main pillars: development, +support, and end-user services. The pillars are permeable, with +interdependencies from end to end. + +For AOO, the provision of authenticated binaries as part of Apache +releases is not a mere convenience. It is overwhelmingly the purpose +of the project in its origin and as brought to Apache, however much +the limited downstream use of the code base is also desired and +supported. + +As evidence of that importance, by 2015-12-31, binary installers +of previous release 4.1.1 had been downloaded 48.1 million times. +Of these, + + 87.7% were for Windows + 8.9% were for Macintosh + 3.4% were for all other distributions, including Linux + +For 4.1.2 binaries, since release at the end of October until +2015-12-31, there are 7.7 million downloads, now continuing at +about 1 million per week, with + + 87.5% for Windows, + 8.1% for Macintosh, and + 4.4% for all other distributions + +Although US destinations have the greatest number of downloads +by nationality, that represents only 15% of the total for this +highly-international project. + +That overwhelmingly defines the community of next-in-line adopters +of Apache OpenOffice software. + + +PMC/COMMITTERS +============== + +The practice of welcoming new PMC/committer members on the dev list +dropped out and has been restored. + +PMC +--- + +The AOO PMC consists of 27 individuals as of 2015-12-31. Gavin +McDonald joined the PMC and Peter Junge retired in the October- +December quarter. + + 18 have remained continuously out of the + 23 from TLP formation in October, 2012. + 9 are new or returned PMC members + + 7 of the current PMC are Apache Software Foundation + Members, including the original Chair + + 2015-10-18 Gavin McDonald (gmcdonald) joined the PMC + 2015-10-08 Damjan Jovanovic (damjan) joined the PMC + 2015-02-13 Dennis E. Hamilton joined the PMC + 2015-02-11 Jan Iversen returned to PMC as Chair + 2015-01-03 Mechtilde and Dr. Michael Stehmann joined the PMC + The last preceding addition was on 2014-01-16 + + 2015-10-18 Peter Junge (pj) retired + 2015-09-09 Ian Lynch (ingotian) deceased May, 2015 + 2015-08-23 Jan Iversen retired + The last preceding retirement was on 2014-08-30 + +PMC membership history is available in PDF at <http://s.apache.org/vji>. + +Committers +---------- + +There are 140 committers as of 2015-12-31. Twenty-four have registered PGP +keys. Don Lewis became a committer in the October-December quarter. + + 2015-12-04 Don Lewis added + 2015-08-06 Manik Malhotra added + 2015-07-27 Gavin McDonald added + Last previous committer addition was Tal Daniel on 2014-04-29 + + 2015-09-23 Ingrid von der Mehden (ingrid), deceased 2013-06-12 + 2015-09-09 Ian Lynch (ingotian), deceased May, 2015 + 2015-08-23 Jan Iversen resigned + +The recognition and invitation of potential committers is improving and +expected to continue. + + +ISSUES +====== + +With the positive movement seen in this quarter, some issues linger. +It is slow going identifying obstacles and bringing them before the entire +community for its wisdom in identification of consensus-based direction. + +Recent progress is owed to heroic efforts on the part of a small group. +We must find a way to not have that as the only way of operating, +burning out devoted contributors. The inevitability of turnover is +worrisome. + +Governance +---------- + +ACTION ITEM: Following the October 2015 Board Meeting, considering the +general lack of energy and resources reported, the AOO PMC was +requested to report plans for informing the public on current +difficulties and risks to the project. + +STATUS: The PMC has not addressed the action item. The Chair has made +an initial few [RISK? ...] posts on the dev@ list to bring individual +cases to general-community attention. There are mixed results. + +NEXT STEPS: Continue identifying risks and issues of capacity and +capability on the public lists to provide a grounded discussion on the +state of the project in the community. + +Development +----------- + +PREVIOUSLY: Chair was to follow through with PMC to develop a slip-stream +release setup that is always in hand regardless of what feature release +development is underway. Have in place as soon as possible after release +4.1.2. +STATUS: Preparation for short-cycle releases and controlled changes, +such as code-signing and straightforward maintenance, has no alignment +on the PMC. There is concern that this will distract from achieving a +feature release. +NEXT STEPS: Take the concerns to the dev@ community for discussion there. + +RESOURCE ISSUES: The buildbot for Windows binaries has not +made a successful build since since 2015-07-28. This has limited QA +testing and patch testing. There is risk of regressions from changes that +are developed and successfully applied to Linux builds, the primary tool +active developers. + +CAPACITY CONCERNS. Based on the crunch to release AOO 4.1.2, it is clear +that 5-6 developers, all on the PMC, completely held together the release +and deployment of AOO 4.1.2. While there are important contributions from +many others on and off the PMC, without those five the release would not have +happened when it did. + The involvement of QA volunteers was limited. + There are also limitations around having enough PMC members provide +builds from source corresponding to the different configurations that are +supported. + +Community +--------- + +PREVIOUSLY: Misalignment in the connection and support from developers +all the way to end-users via lists, forums, and bugzilla was raised as a +concern. The incoherence in where fixes are focused versus where usability +is an issue are part of that concern. +STATUS: This has been raised among the different subgroups with modest +success. Some do not see a problem. +NEXT STEPS: Continue to cultivate this issue. Downgrade from an issue for +board attention. + +ISSUE CLEARANCE AND TECHNICAL DEBT. The handling of issues is how the cycle +of improvement from developers to users to developers is demonstrated. + The tabulation of bugzilla issue growth has been completed to the end +of 2015. The rate at which issues remain unresolved continues to be in +excess of 40%. The overall tabulation is at <http://s.apache.org/YFT>. +A qualitative analysis is at <http://s.apache.org/SNg>. + NOTE: There is a strenuous objection to the use of "technical debt" in +the analysis of unresolved-issue accrual. + KEY CONCERN: No matter how the tracking and understanding of these issues +improves, there does not appear to be developer capacity for addressing +very many of them. This may discourage further defect reporting and +diminish user confidence in their reliance on the software. + +Previous Sustainability Concerns +-------------------------------- + +CUSTOM IT SUPPORT. A project member has taken over the maintenance +of the MediaWiki software. The Forum services are running successfully. +This is no longer an issue. + +RELEASE MANAGEMENT. A new Release Manager provided AOO 4.1.2. The ability +to train others in managing releases is not fully established and resources +for the different builds are strained. Improvement is expected to continue. + NEXT STEPS: Continued attention. + +SKILL DEVELOPMENT. Exploring engagement with companies that might +have a strategic reason for contributing skills to the project has +not been fruitful. + Although there are occassional newcomers wanting to work on the project, +the learning curve is very steep, especially for Windows development. It is +not unusual for new volunteers to disappear after a short time. + On the bright side, three students are now being mentored by a senior +developer. + NEXT STEPS: Continued attention, improve the Windows situation. + +COMMITTER/PMC AVAILABILITY. As of 2015-10-20, all 140 committers have updated +their passwords since the previously-required reset. It remains to determine +what committers/PMC are still subscribed to the dev/private lists. In any +case, most of the 140 are not regulary involved. + NEXT STEPS: Promote more active contributors as committers, assess +capacity for development more closely. + +INFRASTRUCTURE ISSUES. + PREVIOUSLY From 2015-09 Report. Clarify the situation and achieve a +sustainable arrangement in consultation with Infra. Identify at least +temporary relief, with solid arrangement by January. + STATUS: The Forum and Wiki systems are maintained by a project member +and the procedures are documented for use by others. + NEXT STEPS: None. + + +[ ... ] + +------------------------------------------------------ +End of minutes for the January 20, 2016 board meeting. 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