[sakai2-tcc] Planning for Sakai 2.10 and beyond

[Steve Swinsburg]

This is precisely what I've been trying to communicate, but my intentions have been twisted into me calling for an evil governance model, which is not what I was proposing at all. 

We need direction.

I think it would be very valuable to create a survey to poll the community to rate on a scale of 1-10 the importance of a few key features, such as better accessibility, UI consistency, performance of various tools, new tool suggestions, a native mobile app. How can we know what is important if we don't ask the people that use it? I'm not asking for an open ended question or for 50 new features that we commit to providing in an unreasonable timeframe, just a way to figure out what it is that people want and then determine how we might be able to achieve a few of those items.

Based on this we can determine if we need a separate management model or not. If we can get away with the existing group, then so be it (see previous email about name issues and perception).  But lets be clear. Polling the community, discussing priorities, developing a roadmap and rallying resources *is* management. 

Imagine if we had half the funding that the OAE did, and could hire some full time developers to achieve milestones on the roadmap... That is a salivatory prospect!

cheers,
Steve



On 25/09/2012, at 6:10 AM, Neal Caidin <nealcaidin at sakaifoundation.org> wrote:

> Reminder: TCC CLE meeting this Thursday at 4 pm Eastern time (8 pm GMT). More reminders coming soon. 4 pm Thursday is our new standard meeting time, at least for the present (was the best time indicated by those who responded to a Doodle poll).
> 
> 
> +1 for having a discussion of 2.10 planning and Beyond 2.10 Planning in the near future. 
> 
> When is the timing right for this? Should we wait for the 2.9.0 release to get out the door first?  Digression - Wouldn't it be cool to get 2.9.0 released before Educause so we could make a grand announcement? Educause is the week of November 5th.
> 
> Should the planning be split into 2 parts - 2.10, so we can keep the movement of updates going and not lose our momentum , and then a separate thread for longer term?
> 
> A couple of my thoughts on the matter (and I get a pass from harsh criticism because I'm a newbie. I have at least 4 months left to claim this :-) ):
> 
> 1) Having clear goals and a roadmap is more likely to help grow the circle of participation. Especially if those goals map up with individual institutional priorities at some level. The more specific we can be, the more institutions and individual contributors will be able to assess if participation will be fruitful for them. We would hope that all Sakai CLE institutions would recognize the value of participating now, and the value to themselves and the community as a whole, but sometimes it takes a little something extra to get this going.
> 
> 2)
> 
> 2a) Let's be careful about mixing strategies with problems statements/goals. Having a governance board or management is an example of a strategy. What are the underlying needs for having such a structure? Let's focus on the needs and later decide whether or not the current structure can sustain the effort or if a different structure or management is necessary. Punt. Let's not make this a roadblock to discussion.
> 
> 2b) Keep an open mind. It is good to learn from the past and be wary of doing the same thing that failed before and no point in doing the same thing and failing again, but maybe there is a different way of doing it that can be successful? Note, this may seem to contradict #2a. :-). 
> 
> 3) It seems like one thing we probably can all agree on is that we need to do a better job establishing and communicating Sakai CLE priorities. Correct? Maybe we can start by focusing on the things we can agree on.
> 
> 4) A suggestion about topics which strike an emotional nerve. Consider assuming positive intent of the people with whom you are engaged in an argument. This can be a powerful tool, though not always easy. In my experience it is fairly normal for people who have similar passions but differing viewpoints to get caught up in the emotion of it. I have been there several times. That's actually a cool thing to remember too, imho.
> 
> 
> -- Neal 
> 
> 
> Neal Caidin
> 
> Sakai CLE Community Coordinator
> nealcaidin at sakaifoundation.org
> Skype: nealkdin
> AIM: ncaidin at aol.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
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