[Qgis-psc] Documentation meeting? Was: Toughts after November PSC

Paolo Cavallini cavallini at faunalia.it
Tue Nov 26 08:09:32 PST 2019


Hi Anita, all
maybe a different schedule will improve participation.
Alexandre, as first proponent, would you like to consult with key people
and propose a different timing?
Cheers.

Il 26/11/19 16:43, Anita Graser ha scritto:
> Feel free to proceed without me. I'll try to make joining possible if
> it's during office hours but I cannot guarantee that I'll make it.
> 
> Regards,
> Anita
> 
> 
> 
> On Tue, Nov 26, 2019 at 4:29 PM Paolo Cavallini <cavallini at faunalia.it
> <mailto:cavallini at faunalia.it>> wrote:
> 
>     Hi all,
>     unfortunately it seems very difficult to have >5 people attending.
>     Should we postpone of another week? Would this make participation
>     easier?
>     Cheers.
> 
>     Il 25/11/19 13:28, Paolo Cavallini ha scritto:
>     > I prepared a Doodle, le't find a date:
>     > https://doodle.com/poll/znd5ywwxtcwcmg49
>     > cheers
>     >
>     > Il 25/11/19 13:19, Tim Sutton ha scritto:
>     >> Hi
>     >>
>     >>
>     >>
>     >>> On 23 Nov 2019, at 17:14, Alexandre Neto <senhor.neto at gmail.com
>     <mailto:senhor.neto at gmail.com>
>     >>> <mailto:senhor.neto at gmail.com <mailto:senhor.neto at gmail.com>>>
>     wrote:
>     >>>
>     >>> Hi,
>     >>>
>     >>> Sorry for the thread hijacking. 
>     >>>
>     >>> Regarding the Documentation, as Tim mentioned, video meetings are
>     >>> probably much more productive (and clarifying about others opinions)
>     >>> than enumerous threads and long messages in the mailing lists. 
>     >>>
>     >>> This being said, can I suggest doing a special PSC meeting (or
>     >>> something similar) together with the most active or interest members
>     >>> of the documentation team, for us to agree on some strategies going
>     >>> forward?
>     >>
>     >> +1 from me, great idea!
>     >>
>     >> Regards
>     >>
>     >> Tim
>     >>
>     >>>
>     >>> Thanks,
>     >>>
>     >>> Alexandre Neto
>     >>>
>     >>> A sexta, 22/11/2019, 07:00, Tim Sutton <tim at kartoza.com
>     <mailto:tim at kartoza.com>
>     >>> <mailto:tim at kartoza.com <mailto:tim at kartoza.com>>> escreveu:
>     >>>
>     >>>     Hi
>     >>>
>     >>>
>     >>>>     On 21 Nov 2019, at 16:36, Paolo Cavallini
>     <cavallini at faunalia.it <mailto:cavallini at faunalia.it>
>     >>>>     <mailto:cavallini at faunalia.it
>     <mailto:cavallini at faunalia.it>>> wrote:
>     >>>>>
>     >>>>>     Right. If possible and doesn't trigger a lot of followup
>     costs.
>     >>>>>     Sometimes it is better to outsource to a proprietary
>     solution, if it
>     >>>>>     saves us a lot of time and efforts (think about our usage
>     of Google
>     >>>>>     docs, as an example).
>     >>>>
>     >>>>     of course cost is an issue. using and designing infrastructures
>     >>>>     that are
>     >>>>     complex, essentially in the hand of a single person,
>     difficult or
>     >>>>     impossible to handle for others, is a major concern to me.
>     >>>>     the key point here is openness: I think we should avoid
>     making the
>     >>>>     project less open than it could be.
>     >>>
>     >>>
>     >>>
>     >>>     8< ———— snip
>     >>>
>     >>>>
>     >>>>>
>     >>>>>     What do you think about this proposal. Do you still think
>     there is a
>     >>>>>     need to run all of our expenses around our IT infrastructure
>     >>>>>     through the
>     >>>>>     voting members?
>     >>>>
>     >>>>     Of course, running costs, once approved, should not be
>     discussed
>     >>>>     every
>     >>>>     time. I see a number of projects, however, that have been
>     financed as
>     >>>>     special projects, and could be very well have been run
>     through a
>     >>>>     public
>     >>>>     assessment.
>     >>>>     again, I'm talking about openness: directing things top
>     down may seem
>     >>>>     more efficient at first, but I believe in the long run it
>     is not.
>     >>>
>     >>>
>     >>>     Right but I think you are mischaracterising Andreas’ approach as
>     >>>     ’not open’. The budget and cost renters would be clear, open and
>     >>>     agreed with the community, as would the post spending reporting.
>     >>>     It just means that for certain cases there is not a 3 month lead
>     >>>     up needed before money could be spent. Denis’ recent request for
>     >>>     addition support with the python API docs was maybe a good
>     example
>     >>>     of this.
>     >>>
>     >>>     8< —————snip —————— 
>     >>>>
>     >>>>>        * due to connection issues, I've not clear what the outcome
>     >>>>>     of the
>     >>>>>        Documentation discussion was; I made my proposal [0], I
>     would
>     >>>>>     appreciate
>     >>>>>        further comments on it so we can start working on a clear
>     >>>>>     solution
>     >>>>>
>     >>>>>
>     >>>>>     Tim presented his platform for training lessons. That's
>     was mainly
>     >>>>>     discussed. Sorry, we haven't discussed or came up with a
>     >>>>>     solution for
>     >>>>>     the documentation problem yet.
>     >>>>
>     >>>>     I see this issue keep on attracting little interest. I suggest
>     >>>>     keeping
>     >>>>     on discussing about this on the mailing list
>     >>>
>     >>>     I think the case is more that the issue is complex and
>     perplexing
>     >>>     as we are trying to serve many different needs. Discussing it on
>     >>>     the mailing list is fine but honestly this (like many
>     discussions
>     >>>     on the mailing list) is just circular with many thread
>     hijackings,
>     >>>     cross issues etc. it becomes difficult to know where we even are
>     >>>     in the discussions. For example your proposed approach to
>     >>>     documentation, Harrisou already responded that he would be
>     really
>     >>>     upset to lose translations, asking for example of a platform
>     where
>     >>>     documentation can allow commenting and user augmentation
>     etc. and
>     >>>     his request went unanswered IIRC. This is an example where it
>     >>>     would be better to go off in a huddle with Harrisou and other
>     >>>     interested parties and come up with a proposal which they are
>     >>>     invested in, then bring it back to the mailing list as a
>     proposal
>     >>>     that already has the buy-in from key role-players.
>     >>>
>     >>>
>     >>>
>     >>>>
>     >>>>>        * we need simple rules for adding news, even though a
>     degree of
>     >>>>>        flexibility is useful; cen we agree on [1]?
>     >>>
>     >>>
>     >>>     From your original list:
>     >>>
>     >>>     1. global Contributors Meetings announcements (local ones
>     only if geofenced)
>     >>>     2. global QGIS Days (local ones only if geofenced)
>     >>>     3. requests for sponsorship of specific projects
>     >>>     4. crowdfunding announcements
>     >>>     5. callouts for testing of upcoming qgis releases
>     >>>     6. new release announcements when changelog is published
>     (after we get
>     >>>     rid of the small banner)
>     >>>     7. survey announcements.
>     >>>
>     >>>
>     >>>
>     >>>     I just wonder why we need all these rules? We could also
>     just rely
>     >>>     on common sense, ensuring that anything posted is of broad
>     >>>     interest, and ask the authors to float anything up to the PSC if
>     >>>     they are not sure. For me it is similar to the blog.qgis.org
>     <http://blog.qgis.org>
>     >>>     <http://blog.qgis.org/> which is the ‘voice of the project’ - we
>     >>>     never really had any problem with what should and shouldn’t
>     go on
>     >>>     there…..
>     >>>
>     >>>
>     >>>
>     >>>>>
>     >>>>>
>     >>>>>     That wasn't discussed. What I suggest: please put it into
>     the PSC
>     >>>>>     meeting document for next meeting. These meeting documents
>     are our
>     >>>>>     central log for our discussions and decisions. Everything else
>     >>>>>     is lost
>     >>>>>     quite easily. So if you want a decision on that, please
>     suggest
>     >>>>>     a text
>     >>>>>     in our next meeting document and formulate it there.
>     >>>>
>     >>>>     IMHO we should decide whatever is possible here in the
>     mailing list,
>     >>>>     leaving PSC meeting for the most complex issues, that require a
>     >>>>     proper
>     >>>>     discussion in voice. I think most issues can be solved in
>     writing.
>     >>>>     I remember the good old IRC meetings, very good for many
>     >>>>     decisions, less
>     >>>>     so for general discussion.
>     >>>
>     >>>
>     >>>     I think your memory of IRC meetings is clouded by geek nostalgia
>     >>>     :-) I have very clear memories of being in meetings and waiting
>     >>>     for ages for each person to respond because they had basically
>     >>>     wondered away from the computer / opened another app and
>     were not
>     >>>     focussed on the IRC channel. In a voice meeting you can clearly
>     >>>     know if the participants are present and engaged. IRC was
>     frankly
>     >>>     awful and is no substitute for a well run voice meeting. Of
>     course
>     >>>     a badly run voice meeting is not much better than a badly
>     run IRC
>     >>>     meeting :-) But in general you can put a lot of nuanced
>     >>>     information across much more quickly in voice than you can
>     typing
>     >>>     in an IRC channel. There is another thing that I find voice /
>     >>>     video meetings really good for: Email / IRC discussions can
>     often
>     >>>     sound much more heated than they really are, voice calls carry a
>     >>>     lot of extra context over in the conversation and we get to hear
>     >>>     tone and sentiment portrayed much more accurately. Speaking in
>     >>>     voice reminds us that we are humans, gives us a sense of shared
>     >>>     endeavour and rapport that simply don’t manifest in the rather
>     >>>     functional and faceless platform of email / irc. 
>     >>>
>     >>>
>     >>>>     IMHO PSC meetings are lasting too long, and are not a very
>     >>>>     efficient way
>     >>>>     of making decisions. Having just one meeting once a month does
>     >>>>     not help
>     >>>>     taking timely and efficient decisions.
>     >>>
>     >>>     I’m fine with discussing things on the mailing list, but
>     they are
>     >>>     really bad places for actual decisions. People call for
>     votes too
>     >>>     quickly, or vote on things when no call has been made, votes
>     come
>     >>>     through in bits in pieces, there is no clarity on who should
>     >>>     actually be voting,  it is difficult to know when votes are
>     >>>     finished, new threads emerge soon after one finishes where new
>     >>>     votes are made and it is basically impossible to track any
>     >>>     decisions. Also in email, people are extremely selective about
>     >>>     which parts of an email they respond to so many concerns
>     often go
>     >>>     unaddressed. In voice it is much easier to dig and get the
>     >>>     specific information you need. An example of this is Anita’s
>     >>>     recent comment in an off list chat about putting out one-liner
>     >>>     emails with little context leaving the reader to puzzle out what
>     >>>     is intended - in a conversation you can just ask the person
>     >>>     ‘please clarify’.
>     >>>
>     >>>     In terms of our meetings lasting long, yes we should try to
>     >>>     time-cap meetings, but I also think (as I was alluding to above)
>     >>>     that there is huge merit in us actually spending time together
>     >>>     thrashing things out rather than rushing in, rushing out of
>     >>>     meetings. Ideally our meetings should be run in a way that the
>     >>>     document agenda  contains a list of clear ‘yes/no’
>     proposals, with
>     >>>     an opportunity for the proposer to give some background to the
>     >>>     proposal in voice and the PSC to ask any questions to inform
>     their
>     >>>     vote, then the execution of a quick vote directly in the google
>     >>>     doc. All of that can be time capped to e.g. 1 hour. Whatever
>     >>>     doesn’t get covered gets carried over to the top of the next
>     >>>     meetings agenda. 
>     >>>
>     >>>     I really like the chance to hang out before / after the meetings
>     >>>     to dig into topics a little more. You also get a good sense of
>     >>>     where people are in their private lives and can use that to
>     >>>     understand tone in subtext in emails over the subsequent month.
>     >>>     Frankly some of the exchanges we have on email these days
>     worry me
>     >>>     that people are getting unhappy and that we are losing cohesion.
>     >>>     Spending time together and getting on the same page about things
>     >>>     is a good fix for that…I think this is especially important for
>     >>>     you Paolo - as project chair you should be working hard to
>     have a
>     >>>     deep sense of rapport with the team (first to arrive, last to
>     >>>     leave) so that you can get the most possible enthusiasm and
>     >>>     collaboration from everyone in the PSC and in the community,
>      and
>     >>>     set the general direction of how the project is going.
>     >>>
>     >>>
>     >>>>
>     >>>>>     It would be valuable and more efficient if all of our
>     >>>>>     discussions and
>     >>>>>     decisions really end up in these meeting documents. Everything
>     >>>>>     else is
>     >>>>>     just discussion to me, and not a formal decision.
>     >>>>
>     >>>>     I think we can vote here for most issues.
>     >>>>     In short, I propose to put forward all the issues here on
>     the ML, and
>     >>>>     leave to the voice meetings what we were unable to solve during
>     >>>>     the month.
>     >>>
>     >>>     Ok, again I say that ML is a terrible place to find
>     decisions and
>     >>>     we should use them for discussing things and record the
>     decisions
>     >>>     on something like loomio on a wiki or somewhere discoverable and
>     >>>     canonical.
>     >>>
>     >>>     Anyway good discussion folks, rock on QGIS! Lets be human and
>     >>>     remember that talking to each other is a key part of being a
>     good
>     >>>     team for providing the much needed governance to the QGIS
>     project. :-)
>     >>>
>     >>>
>     >>>     Regards
>     >>>
>     >>>     Tim
>     >>>
>     >>>
>     >>>
>     >>>>
>     >>>>     Cheers.
>     >>>>     --
>     >>>>     Paolo Cavallini - www.faunalia.eu <http://www.faunalia.eu>
>     <http://www.faunalia.eu/>
>     >>>>     QGIS.ORG <http://QGIS.ORG> <http://qgis.org/> Chair:
>     >>>>     http://planet.qgis.org/planet/user/28/tag/qgis%20board/
>     >>>>     _______________________________________________
>     >>>>     Qgis-psc mailing list
>     >>>>     Qgis-psc at lists.osgeo.org <mailto:Qgis-psc at lists.osgeo.org>
>     <mailto:Qgis-psc at lists.osgeo.org <mailto:Qgis-psc at lists.osgeo.org>>
>     >>>>     https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-psc
>     >>>
>     >>>      
>     >>>
>     >>>
>     >>>
>     >>>
>     >>>     ---
>     >>>
>     >>>     *Tim Sutton*
>     >>>     tim at qgis.org <mailto:tim at qgis.org> <mailto:tim at qgis.org
>     <mailto:tim at qgis.org>>
>     >>>
>     >>>
>     >>>
>     >>>
>     >>>     _______________________________________________
>     >>>     Qgis-psc mailing list
>     >>>     Qgis-psc at lists.osgeo.org <mailto:Qgis-psc at lists.osgeo.org>
>     <mailto:Qgis-psc at lists.osgeo.org <mailto:Qgis-psc at lists.osgeo.org>>
>     >>>     https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-psc
>     >>>
>     >>> <qgis-icon-60x60.png>_______________________________________________
>     >>> Qgis-psc mailing list
>     >>> Qgis-psc at lists.osgeo.org <mailto:Qgis-psc at lists.osgeo.org>
>     <mailto:Qgis-psc at lists.osgeo.org <mailto:Qgis-psc at lists.osgeo.org>>
>     >>> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-psc
>     >>
>     >> —
>     >>
>     >>
>     >>
>     >>
>     >>
>     >>
>     >>
>     >>
>     >> *Tim Sutton*
>     >>
>     >> *Co-founder:* Kartoza
>     >> *Ex Project chair:* QGIS.org <http://QGIS.org>
>     >>
>     >> Visit http://kartoza.com <http://kartoza.com/> to find out about open
>     >> source:
>     >>
>     >> Desktop GIS programming services
>     >> Geospatial web development
>     >> GIS Training
>     >> Consulting Services
>     >>
>     >> *Skype*: timlinux 
>     >> *IRC:* timlinux on #qgis at freenode.net <http://freenode.net>
>     <http://freenode.net>
>     >>
>     >> I'd love to connect. Here's my calendar link
>     >> <https://calendly.com/timlinux> to make finding time easy.
>     >>
>     >>
>     >> _______________________________________________
>     >> Qgis-psc mailing list
>     >> Qgis-psc at lists.osgeo.org <mailto:Qgis-psc at lists.osgeo.org>
>     >> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-psc
>     >>
>     >
> 
>     -- 
>     Paolo Cavallini - www.faunalia.eu <http://www.faunalia.eu>
>     QGIS.ORG <http://QGIS.ORG> Chair:
>     http://planet.qgis.org/planet/user/28/tag/qgis%20board/
>     _______________________________________________
>     Qgis-psc mailing list
>     Qgis-psc at lists.osgeo.org <mailto:Qgis-psc at lists.osgeo.org>
>     https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-psc
> 

-- 
Paolo Cavallini - www.faunalia.eu
QGIS.ORG Chair:
http://planet.qgis.org/planet/user/28/tag/qgis%20board/



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