On 3/19/07, Greg Dekoenigsberg <gdk@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Mon, 19 Mar 2007, Mike McGrath wrote: > What can we learn from this so we don't repeat it? > > http://linux.slashdot.org/linux/07/03/19/1522208.shtml Make hard decisions when they need to be made.
That isn't sufficiently specific. When do decisions 'need' to be made? Debian's answer to this question is that hard decisions get made only when there is consensus/a vote/lots and lots of talking. External factors (damage to market share, release schedules, etc.) are basically not considered in figuring out when decisions 'need' to be made. To the Debian culture, democracy and process are more important than the product. This is what kills them *as a product*.[1] The repeated slippage of release dates, and recent discussions about 'must have' features for the next release, make me suspect that Fedora has no answers to the question, or at least none that are any better than Debian's. Fedora may not value democracy over the product, but it doesn't seem to have replaced democracy with anything that is decisively better for the product. I'd suggest that to get in the habit of making hard choices earlier rather than later, you might start by picking some hard questions[2], trying to answer them quickly/effectively, and seeing what happens. If they are talked to death, you've already got a problem; if no one steps up to make/enforce the decisions; you've got a problem; etc. (FWIW, you could also replace 'when do you need to make decisions' with 'who makes hard decisions' through this entire email and get similar results.) (Also, what Blizzard said, esp. about the kittens ;) Luis [1] Ian blames this on democracy, but I think it comes from Debian cultural norms which would manifest themselves no matter what leadership method Debian had. [2] I suggested some hard, critical questions (which appear to have been punted) in December: "how does Fedora define a showstopper? What are the most-preferred/least-preferred methods for coping with a showstopper? For a given problem, who gets to choose between those methods? Who is in charge of proactively finding showstoppers as early as possible? Who is in charge of creating communities of people who find showstoppers as early as possible? What methods can be put in place to prevent showstoppers from getting into the trunk in the first place?" _______________________________________________ fedora-advisory-board mailing list fedora-advisory-board@xxxxxxxxxx http://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-advisory-board
