RE: [office] Comments and feature requests

["Mary McRae" <mary.mcrae@oasis-open.org>]

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
> > >
> > >
> >