Re: GNOME Quarterly Reports

[Chris Leonard <cjlhomeaddress gmail com>]

The last time the topic of Quarterly Reports came up on the gnome-i18n
list, I made a suggestion that could easily apply to other teams.
Given that much of the work that goes on around here occurs via
systems with a database backend, generating meta-data from those
systems into a "dashboard" style report(s) can usually be automated in
some fashion.

You can come up with your own favorite metrics, I'll just mention a
few possibilities by way of example, these are meant to be
illustrative only.

>From the repository and bug tracker:
# of commits
# of committers
# of tickets filed / closed etc.

>From Damned Lies:
# of words translated
# of packages hosted / translated to some percentage, etc.
# of languages / new languages
# of translators / new translators

Admittedly, any single report is essentially a meaningless snapshot of
info-porn, however over time one can see trends developing or see
areas that may require greater attention.  Again, the numbers can
roll-up cumulatively to an annual report "factoid" collection.

I do not suggest that such factoids are a replacement for thoughtful
commentary on issues, new features, etc.  It is a means of
supplementing that with some readily generated (and hopefully
meaningful) metrics.  The idea would be to make these easily obtained
by the reporter so that they can just carry them as infographics
without too much digging or SQL querying.

Just a thought from a guy who has played the "justify your existence"
game annually at budget time in both industry and government settings.

cjl
Sugar Labs Translation Team Coordinator