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Subject: RE: [office] Comments and feature requests
No offense taken; what members often fail to realize is that we are entirely supported by member dues, and have only a dozen or so people on staff including our IT dept of 3. We now have a great team in place that has made tremendous strides in our IT infrastructure, enabling us to add to new offerings to our members such as Drupal-based focus areas and the OASIS Library currently in development. We have two major sources of input to the ongoing development schedule: internal-focused (activities necessary to ensure our infrastructure is solid) and external-focused (those needs expressed by our members). Scott McGrath, Senior Director of Member Services, has been sending around a survey asking members a series of questions to help improve the organization (https://www.oasis-open.org/apps/2007_Member_Survey/members/register.php). One of those questions is: "The one infrastructure tool or system that OASIS should provide to make my TC work more valuable is:". If you haven't yet completed the survey, I urge you to do so. We take member feedback very seriously. Regards, Mary > -----Original Message----- > From: marbux [mailto:marbux@gmail.com] > Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2007 2:33 AM > To: mary.mcrae@oasis-open.org > Cc: Michael Brauer; OpenDocument > Subject: Re: [office] Comments and feature requests > > Hi, Mary, > > I thought I might write again to make it more clear that my > last note was intended to be humorous. I have worked in large > organizations myself and am well aware of the difficulties of > making changes happen quickly in such a setting. > > But I thought it wickedly ironic that an organization that, > inter alia, develops business process and workflow XML > languages is still insisting on email for submission and > tracking of issues. It's somehow akin to using a typewriter > as the primary tool to develop algorithms for a word > processor or using the Pony Express to transmit maintenance > data for a working telegraph line. Do-able, but definitely > not taking advantage of the very tools OASIS helps create for > others in similar circumstances. > > Hence my quip about the OASIS and the 21st Century. It was > one of those moments that gave me a much-appreciated giggle. > I'm thankful I didn't have a mouthful of coffee when I read > your post; I'd be buying a new keyboard! > > Thank you for the happy moment when I needed one, > > Marbux > > > On 5/9/07, marbux <marbux@gmail.com> wrote: > > Mary, thank you for bringing these constraints to my > attention. May I > > respectfully suggest that OASIS consider getting into the > 21st Century > > in regard to issue submission and tracking. Email is a really lousy > > solution to the problem. It might as well be voice-mail. :-) > > > > Best regards, > > > > Marbux (who is still waiting for plain text editing to be > enabled in > > Drupal on opendocument.xml.org so more complex and far less buggy > > formatting can be used, a 10-minute task for OASIS support > staff for > > which I provided the step-by-step cookbook several months ago). > > > > > > On 5/9/07, Mary McRae <mary.mcrae@oasis-open.org> wrote: > > > Hello again everyone, > > > > > > I guess it's my day to weigh in on postings. > > > > > > OASIS *requires* all comments from non-TC members to be > submitted > > > through the OASIS comment mail list - this is for IPR reasons and > > > ensures that anyone posting agrees to the IPR Policy for > the particular TC. Also, OASIS Policy requires that all work > of the TC be hosted on OASIS servers > (http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/process.php#2.8). > > > > > > There are a number of TCs that use various systems to > track issues > > > lists - some use XML, some use spreadsheets, some use the > TC wiki. > > > In each case links are maintained to the original comment > in the email archives, a responsible party is assigned and > the status of outstanding issues is reviewed at each meeting. > > > > > > Note that any comments received during a public review > *must* be > > > tracked and logged and that log becomes part of the > submission for a Committee Specification vote. > > > > > > Please feel free to contact me regarding any questions > or if I can provide any assistance. > > > > > > Regards, > > > > > > Mary > > > > > > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > > From: marbux [mailto:marbux@gmail.com] > > > > Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2007 12:22 PM > > > > To: Michael Brauer > > > > Cc: OpenDocument > > > > Subject: Re: [office] Comments and feature requests > > > > > > > > On 5/9/07, Michael Brauer <Michael.Brauer@sun.com> wrote: > > > > > Dear TC members, > > > > > > > > > > below Rob and Patrick have made some suggestions how we > > > > could create a > > > > > process for the comment handling. I personally like these > > > > ideas, and I > > > > > think we should establish such a process. However, if we > > > > > establish this process, we need someone who keeps track of > > > > > comments, and the comment registry. Is someone of you > interested > > > > > in taking over this task, or volunteers to do so? > > > > > > > > > > We further may require some lightweight process for feature > > > > requests > > > > > that we get as comments. I could imagine that the one who > > > > keeps track > > > > > of the comments alerts the TC of new requests, and asks for a > > > > > volunteer who may process the request within the TC. The > > > > task of this > > > > > person would be to introduce the request to the TC so that > > > > the TC can > > > > > accept or decline it, and, in case the request gets > accepted, to > > > > > advance the proposal to a state where the TC can vote on it. > > > > > Obviously, there could be different volunteers for > > > > different proposals. > > > > > > > > > > > > > Based on hard experience, I would much prefer a process that is > > > > less subject to breakdown and makes it easier on all concerned. > > > > There is no shortage of software especially designed > for tracking > > > > issues as they are received and through their handling > and final > > > > disposition. See generally, > > > > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Issue_tracking_system>; see also > > > > comparison of issue tracking systems, > > > > > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_issue_tracking_systems>. > > > > > > > > The suggested workflow is undependable and fraught with > > > > opportunities for issues to be lost. E.g., dividing > responsibility > > > > among different volunteers to track different types of > issues in > > > > their own offices invites the "I thought you were handling that > > > > kind of issue" > > > > confusion. The biggest design flaw in the present system is > > > > requiring/allowing people to submit issues via email. A link on > > > > the TC public home page to a web form with defined fields for > > > > submission of issues with a relational database back > end would be > > > > far less work for all concerned and be far more reliable. > > > > > > > > I am aware of the barriers to getting software installed in the > > > > OASIS infrastructure. If there is not already an > adequate tracking > > > > system available for TC use, we might be better served by a > > > > volunteer hosting such a service on their own system. There are > > > > also free SAAS sites that offer issue tracker capabilities. > > > > > > > > The web form could also easily allow > self-categorization of issue > > > > types by those who submit them. > > > > > > > > The workflow suggested leaves the actual tracking off-line and > > > > reuquires submission of a monthly report. A system that tracks > > > > such issues dynamically and is always available for > review would > > > > alleviate such concerns. Fact: volunteers can and will > become ill, > > > > take vacations, get pressed for time, or experience > other barriers > > > > that can interfere with the process suggested. > > > > > > > > Many issue tracking packages also enable automated email > > > > notifications when issues are submitted or their > tickets modified. > > > > I'm subscribed to a couple such systems myself, and the > TC mailing > > > > list could be subscribed so that the notifications are > automated. > > > > > > > > We need issue tracking software. > > > > > > > > Best regards, > > > > > > > > Marbux > > > > > > > >
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