On Tue, Mar 23, 2010 at 11:25:39PM +0100, Kurt Roeckx wrote:
> I think that one of issues we have is that there is alot of work
> to be done by some teams, some of them even regularaly mail that
> they need more members, but they seem to have a hard time keeping
> the numbers up, burning the other team members out.
>
> What are your ideas to make sure those teams keep running?
In general, I believe that the lack of manpower in "core" teams is just
a representation "in the small" of the general lack of manpower we
suffer in the project. Having a better ability to attract new
contributors will most likely fix also the lack of manpower in specific
teams. How to attract more contributors has been discussed extensively
already in other threads and in most of candidate's platforms.
Now, assuming the current amount of manpower as stable, the point is how
to have more people "migrate" to become part of "core" teams. First of
all, as you observe, "some" of those teams regularly call for help and
(my addition) publish guidelines to become part of the team. This is
very good (as I've discussed elsewhere) but should be the rule for all
of the core teams (for some definition of "core"), not only some of
them.
About how, more specifically, the DPL can help in re-staffing core
teams, I've already voiced my opinion and plans in [1], here is the
quote that I found most appropriate from there:
> Something I'd like to try if elected DPL is to keep a list of teams
> "in need of help" [2]. Then, periodically and at worst in my monthly
> "bits from ..." posts, I intend to have a section which kind of makes
> a "focus on" the specific team which is looking for new people. It is
> probably nothing and won't change much, but it is a worthwhile
> attempt.
>
> I also consider a responsibility of the DPL to prod specific people to
> join core teams which are understaffed, as I believe has pretty much
> always happened with past DPLs, but that can be no more than
> invitations, in agreement with the involved team. (And no, that's no
> excuse to lack transparent join rules for the team, it is just a way
> to have "team staffing" going in both directions: passive and active.)
Cheers.
[1] http://lists.debian.org/debian-vote/2010/03/msg00104.html
[2] yes, that list probably equates the overall list of Debian teams,
but managing priorities is something a DPL is expected to do
--
Stefano Zacchiroli -o- PhD in Computer Science \ PostDoc @ Univ. Paris 7
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