Re: Things to do/Roadmap

[Eric Baudais <baudais kkpsi org>]

On Sun, Dec 14, 2003 at 12:10:07AM +0100, Vincent Untz wrote:
> Hi all
>
> Now that elections have (nearly) ended, it's time to look at what we've
> got to do, so here's a quick TODO list.
>
> I send it to get some input. And if you can start to work on/think about
> some of the items, it'd be great.
>
> 1) Process remaining applications
> =================================
> Ok, I have to admit: this will never end, we'll always have remaining
> applications :-) Anyway, this is our main job, so we have to process
> them. I didn't look at the new ones (except for jpr that I forgot to
> marked as accepted...). It'd be great to process them before Christmas.
>
> 2) New infrastructure
> =====================
> I'd like to change our very old infrastructure to something totally
> automated. Eric, you worked a bit on this some months ago. Do you still
> have what you wrote? This should really help us to process the
> applications quickly. I can work on it if it is needed, but not before
> January.
> I'm sure we can do this before March. I absolutely want this before
> next summer.

I think it's doable by January if I can get PHP to place nicely with
Apache.  I've had to reinstall Debian on my machine and haven't been
able to get this working correctly since.  I'd appreciate a bit of
help troubleshooting my development setup.  I'm using the Debian
packages and am not sure if the packages are at fault or the Apache
configuraiton.

> 3) Anonymous voting referendum
> ==============================
> The board asked us to organize a referendum, so just let's do it! This
> should be a lot easier than elections. The first thing to do is to write
> a timeline. I think I did work on one some times ago, but I can't find
> it anymore... Here's a quick suggestion:
>
> Beginning of February: announce that the referendum begins two weeks
> later
> Mid-February: send ballots, beginnong of voting period.
> Two weeks later: end of voting period.
> Beginning of March: preliminary results are out.
> One week later: official results.
>
> What do you think? Any volunteer to work a bit on this and propose a
> good timeline?

I think there should be two things we need before the election can
start.  A timeline is one.  A description of how the anonymous voting
mechanism will operate is the second.  I believe the foundation-list
was still debating the merits of how to implement the anonymous voting
before the elections.  It would be good to see the discussion revived.

> 4) Discussing with the board
> ============================
> I'd like to see some discussion with the (future) board. The main
> problems I'd like to see fixed are:
>  * the duration of a membership (I think moving to one-year membership
>    might be a good thing). Hrm... This might not be our role as
>    membership committee to discuss this. Maybe I should try to launch a
>    discussion on foundation-list...
>  * I'd like to see all renewals happen at the same date. So memberships
>    would all expire on September 1st, e.g. This might be easier for us
>    to manage. What do you think of this?

I think it is our role to bring to the board items which we see as
hindering our ability to serve the Foundation's membership.  I believe
both are valid points which need some more discussion.  Particularly
I'd like to see the renewals happen on the same date.

> 5) Renewing the committee
> =========================
> Maybe it's time for some fresh blood. There are two things here we
> should think about:
>  * how many people should be in the committee? When we joined the
>    committee, we were five (remember Mike) (note to Glynn: I'm not
>    sure... were you still in the committee?). Now, we're four.
>  * do we want to stay or to leave?
> I know Ghee is on vacation, so here's what I suggest: we should all
> start to think about it and we'll discuss this in January.
> FIY, at least two people are interested in joining the committee. And
> still FYI, I don't know if I want to stay or leave (or if I should), so
> discussing this in January will allow me to determine what I want to do.

This isn't our decision to make.  However I believe we should provide
some guidance to the board.  I believe the committee should be no
larger than six people and not smaller than three people.  I would
like to stay a member of the committee.  There are some things I want
to see done before I leave the committee.  Getting the membership
database and interface working is something I'd like to see completed.

I have been approached by one person who would like to be a part of
this committee.  I know Vincent has been approached by a different
person.  I believe it is time to grow the membership committee if no
one wants to leave or allow people to leave without feeling guilty
over leaving us one short.

Eric Baudais

-- 
They give you illusion that has the appearance of truth.  I give you
truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion.
                                             --Tennessee Williams