Project Status Wiki?

[Matthieu Patou]

On 04/26/2012 11:22 AM, Charles Tryon wrote:
> One of the things that has always stuck in my craw is the fact that I've
> not yet found a central place where I can go and get a quick overview of
> where various features are at in the Samba4 project.  For example, I know
> that I'm very interested in the ability to create domain trusts.  I know
> people are working toward that goal, and that there are some
> critical dependencies, but without actually looking into the code (which is
> currently beyond my technical ability), I don't have visibility into that
> particular project.
>
> So, in the spirit of FOSS, it's time to stop complaining and start doing
> something about it....
>
> First of all, I want to ask if someone else has already started maintaining
> such a project or Web site -- some place where projects can give a high
> level "this is where we're at" status -- and I've just not found it yet.
>   If so, then that's great!
>
> Failing that, I am thinking of starting another Wiki page.  This is NOT
> intended to be a deep, "bugzilla" level tracking of sub projects, but more
> something a technical manager (like, my boss) could look at quickly, nod
> his or her head and say, "I've got a comfort level about the features that
> are important to me."  Since I'm not the one overseeing these features, or
> even working on them, individual developers would need to remember to add
> their own projects, and occasionally take a look at the page to make
> updates as their projects mature.  Hopefully, this will reduce the number
> of posts asking things like, "I'm trying to get printing working.  Does
> Samba4 support printing yet??"
>
> The table would contain columns something like this:
>
> Feature:
>    A short name of the feature or project.  There might be some overlap, and
> there would certainly need to be some way to create simple hierarchies.
>   This could be a name of an interface or AD feature.  The temptation would
> be to break things down TOO much, but that would just make it harder to
> maintain.  "SIMPLE" is key here.
>
> Overall Status:
>    This would be a high level indication of where the project is at.  A
> single word would be sufficient, but it might be a little longer.  These
> might include:
>    - Stable -- the feature may be going through some tweaking, but generally
> speaking, it's expected to work, at least at a "Alpha" level.
>    - Testing -- the feature is generally complete, but needs a lot more
> testing before people can assume it's working.
>    - Nearing completion -- developers have a clear idea where the feature is
> going, and have implemented the bulk of it, but it's not really complete.
>    - In Planning -- developers are actively hacking at a design.  They have
> a good idea of a roadmap, but very little work has been done yet.
>    - Refactoring -- Maybe this worked before, but there have been serious
> deficiencies discovered, and developers are in the middle of tearing out
> the guts...  :-(
>    - Planned -- Recognized as needed, but no one has had time to sit down
> and begin to lay out a solution.
>    - Out of Scope -- "In your dreams," right?
>
> Dependencies:
>    What other projects, interfaces, features, documentation or resources is
> this feature dependent on or waiting for?
>
> Known Issues:
>    This overlaps somewhat with the "Dependencies" section, but could list
> high level issues which are either holding up progress, or that still
> prevent the feature from being useful.  This could also give known
> workarounds (e.g., Fine grained control over shares is not supported by S4
> -- use a parallel S3 server instead.)
>
> Key Contact Person:
>    This is not an exhaustive list of developers or testers involved, but
> just a name or two of the key person(s) directing this feature, or point
> person to ask questions.
>
> (Notice that I did NOT include a column for "When will this be DONE"! ;-)
>
> The last thing I want to do is create more Project Management overhead!  I
> am NOT a Project Manager. (Ask my boss. :-P)  I just believe it would be
> good to have some sort of central idea where people could go to get a feel
> for how things are progressing, how well the current Samba4 code fits their
> needs, and even where new developers could jump in to help on critical
> projects.
>
> Thanks!
>
>
It didn't sounds as a too bad idea, do you want to do it ?
If so check with Lars (in copy) for a write right in the Wiki.
Before linking this page on the wiki you can make it and ask for 
comments/review and then we can link it to the main page of the Wiki.


Matthieu.

-- 
Matthieu Patou
Samba Team
http://samba.org