Re: [office] Comments and feature requests

[marbux <marbux@gmail.com>]

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
> >
> >
>