[DG: Open Forum] Sakai OAE

[Charles Severance]

While all this brainstorming is fine, we need not to get too carried away.  Here are a couple of simple points:

- OAE is not going away - the announcement is simply a reduction of resources.  There remains a core set of stakeholders in OAE that will move it forward.   As resources are further reduce or used up, the OAE governance will become less managed and more community centered.   New resources may appear to extend the managed project.    All this is completely natural.  Sakai CLE went through a similar process going from a managed process to a community process.

- It is very premature to talk about any kind of "Sakai CLE 3"  - Sakai 2.9 is six months behind.  We are getting closer to finishing Sakai CLE 2.9 but lets not make the mistake of getting too excited about what we might be doing in a year or two and then lose focus on what we need to do in the next month or two.  

The problem that led to an underinvestment in the CLE over the past few years was actually not so much the *existence* of the OAE.   The existence of uPortal does not take away from the CLE.   The problem was that the OAE was represented as a "perfect solution" and "completely replacement" that made the CLE obsolete that would be finished and production-ready "in a few months".   For four years, since the "next great great hope" was eternally "a few months away" - and if you believe the "a few months away" message there was no logical reason to invest in our "current product".  People were making "logical" decisions based on inaccurate information.

I just don't want to make the mistake again where we start talking too much about a grand and glorious future and it ends up diffusing the focus on the present.  If we don't tend to the present - getting excited about a future is pretty pointless.  It *is* always more fun to talk about the future than do QA or fix bugs in the present. 

I do think that by the next June meeting, a lot of things will be in good shape for us to *start* a good set of strategic discussions as an entire community.   Sakai 2.9 will be out and installed and work on Sakai 2.10 will be well underway,  Sakai OAE will have started a transition to a more community-based approach from a managed approach, the merger should be done - and then it would be *great* to brainstorm a bit - as long as we execute on the plans we already have in place.  Lets work hard over the next 9 months and reward ourself at the next conference with some sessions that are indeed forward-looking.  Being together and having beer always makes these conversations more productive.

/Chuck


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