[OSGeo-Discuss] [Board] Funding code Sprints

[Ian Turton]

Patrick,

Again you are misunderstanding how sprints (at least in the GeoJava tribe)
work - we plan for weeks (or months) before hand to make the most of the
limited time we have with the developers all in the same room and time zone
there is no brain storming at the event or quilting. We arrive with a plan
and execute that plan. Others are welcome to participate from a remote
location (as I did with the last GeoServer sprint) but there is inevitably
less interaction when you are 8 hours out of phase with the participants.

I'd love to spend my days crafting new cathedrals but there isn't the
demand from customers for that so mostly we work at incremental
improvements to our existing code base. Every so often we can join together
to throw up a new wing or (more often) fix the leaky roof that is annoying
but that no one want's to pay to fix, which is where funding from the OSGEO
comes in otherwise the code will just slowly rot until it all falls apart
and the customers go back to being gouged by proprietary suppliers who can
ignore the rot and just sell on the new shiny paint job.

Ian

On 6 March 2016 at 15:40, Hogan, Patrick (ARC-PX) <patrick.hogan at nasa.gov>
wrote:

> Andrea,
>
> The world needs a more peaceful approach to the future. That’s not what we
> have in a world that is rapidly disassembling, obviously with individual
> exceptions. So yes, a portion of the real world necessarily operates with a
> high degree of chaos. And though it may appear the norm, it is not the
> condition we aspire to, nor one that most allows for wise decisions.
> Brainstorming ideas is certainly a different exercise than the careful
> crafting required for long-standing solutions. I am suggesting we engender
> the more thoughtful approach, not surrender to the one of surviving chaos,
> given ‘your’ coding environment. I think of sprints as good for
> brainstorming, and yes, the dynamic sharing of ideas is very important. But
> I still see it as a patchwork quilt, not the venue for accumulating a
> masterpiece. I realize the world is not simply made of masterpieces, but we
> need them, and we can do more to engender them. And of course pursue with
> gusto, plenty of stimulating drinks and high moments of constructive
> exchange and recognized simpatico.
>
> -Patrick
>
>
>
> *From:* andrea.aime at gmail.com [mailto:andrea.aime at gmail.com] *On Behalf
> Of *Andrea Aime
> *Sent:* Sunday, March 6, 2016 6:32 AM
> *To:* Hogan, Patrick (ARC-PX)
> *Cc:* Ian Turton; discuss at lists.osgeo.org
> *Subject:* Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] [Board] Funding code Sprints
>
>
>
> On Sun, Mar 6, 2016 at 3:18 PM, Hogan, Patrick (ARC-PX) <
> patrick.hogan at nasa.gov> wrote:
>
> It appears to me that even these more-substantial-than-hackathons sprints
> do not reflect the typical work environment for code development. I will
> suggest that requires more of the 'deep thought' Leonardo approach versus
> the more intuitive 'just start chiseling' of a Michelangelo.
>
>
>
> Patrick, it seems to be you imagining a work environment that's quite
> different from the one a software developer in a company doing consulting
> (typical open source setup) has.
>
>
>
> My normal work environment requires me to work for 2-5 different customers
> a day spanning from training, spec-ing and designing new
> modules/applications, meetings, and actual development, along with
> answering questions from my colleagues on other activities, often unrelated
> to the ones that I'm in charge of.
>
> During a typical open source code sprint I'm focused on a single activity
> all day instead.
>
>
>
> To be clear, I'm not complaining, if my daily work was single activity I'd
> walk away out of boredom, what keeps the typical code sprint
>
> engaging is also that we normally take on activity that seem hard to fit
> in the allowed time, and thus require some
>
> extras in terms of concentration and inventiveness to actually get
> completed :-p
>
>
>
> I'd say the recipe for a typical successful open source code sprint is:
>
> * Several developers in the same room, that are normally working from
> remote in different time zones
>
> * An ambitious objective (not so large/difficult that it's impossible to
> complete, but enough that you cannot relax and finish it anyways)
>
> * Typically, full day experience (e.g., we have lunch and dinner together
> too)
>
> * Coffee... lots of it :-p
>
>
>
> Cheers
>
> Andrea
>
>
>
> --
>
> ==
>
> GeoServer Professional Services from the experts! Visit
>
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>
> ==
>
>
>
> Ing. Andrea Aime
>
> @geowolf
>
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-- 
Ian Turton
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