[Server-devel] Post sprint wrap up tasks.

[David Farning]

Just a couple of suggestions for wrapping up the sprint. So far we
have had 4 iterations to revise our process and culture. Let's see
what works and what doesn’t work as we scale beyond the original core
people

1. Road Map -- The RoadMap at
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/XS_Community_Edition/0.5/Road_Map is the
foundation of our synchronization. It gives as a target date for
coordination and planning. Considering the time available and the
number of activite community members and their interests we can
estimate some reasonable targets for the Project specification.

2. Project Specification -- The Project specification at
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/XS_Community_Edition/0.5/Project_Specifications
is our primary planning tool. By assessing our starting point and
available active community members we can make reasonable estimations
about what we can achieve in the time available.

An interesting thing about the Project specification is that while it
is a planning document for everyone for developers, to deployer, to
teachers and students to share expectations, it is not set in stone.
The Modular structure allows anyone to work on whatever they thing is
interesting and valuable. The Agile nature of the development process
means features can slip or be added as we learn more about them and
what their implementation entails.

The specification tries to be a guide about about what past
contributors feel is important in current and future releases, with
creating a culture of, 'My way or the Highway.'

3. Release page -- The release page at
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/XS_Community_Edition/0.5 is our state of the
union. Priorities continually adjust as we receive feedback from the
field about what deployments feel is important. Scope and expectations
continually adjust as active community join or move on to other
projects.

4. Installing -- The Installing information at
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/XS_Community_Edition is the first time
potential users and deployers get to kick the tires. 1,2, and 3 above
are really just talk. The install is where users can assess the
projects usefulness to them, the state of the project, and if the
project is consistently meeting its stated goals.

5. Testing -- The testing at
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/XS_Community_Edition/0.5/Testing is where
the rubber meets the road. Verifying that each specified feature
passes a smoke test on each stated platform keeps us honest.

In past releases, these particularly 1 and 2 were some of the
administrative tasks with which I have tried to help. As the community
grows I would like to reduce my role in these planning and
communication tasks to reduce real and/or perceived bias on my part.

Seem reasonable?

-- 
David Farning
Activity Central: http://www.activitycentral.com