Zynot Project Management Team

Hi all,

= So I Have This Idea.... =

We need to make some decisions about the scope of this new project.

Your voice (still) matters, but we can not be all things to all people.
Even some of my ideas are being dropped because a) I must choose my
battles, ii) the community probably won't like them all, and 4) even I
pitch some real stinkers on occasion. Oh, right, #3: sometimes I can't
get my own act together with some of my "best" ideas.

Get the moral of that story?  No, not that I have a hyperactive sense of
humor, exacerbated by an underdeveloped brevity gland.  Rather, there
will be requirements for getting new projects and ideas accepted into
the distribution.  I have already begun outlining the process in clear
black and white, though I expect to be fine-tuning them with help from
the community.  More patience is needed... develop amongst yourselves.

Remember: Show Us The Spec!


= Transitional Management =

Which raises the important point: implementing these processes in our
newly forming culture will be an ongoing transition.  No one will have
experience developing software using these processes, as this open
source model is being adapted from novel ideas that were only recently
applied to software development at all.

In fact, I have discovered it's a pretty challenging thing to try to
document a management process capable of running an enterprise class
organization.  There is so much information to convey I have a hard time
both getting it all out and then knowing what to do with it, but it is
coming slowly and surely.

In the meantime, we must do our best to organize ourselves using the
best ways we know how, and we can later begin the slow transition into
these new ways of working.  We already have a number of leaders that
have stepped forward and are willing to get us started, and I would like
to take this time to recognize them both so that others might start
assisting them to draft each respective project's vision:

*Architectural Committee*

Zach Welch ('zwelch')         Lead Architect

???                           Desktop Architect
???                           Server Architect
???                           Embedded Architect (**)

Emmett Plant ('Emmett')       "Zynot Mad Science" Architect (*)
???                           Zyrvices Architect (**)

*Architecture Leads*

Seth Chandler ('sethbc')      x86
Dwayne Fontenot	('jacques')   arm
Mark Guertin ('gerk')         ppc
Zach Lowry ('Islo')           m68k
Guy Martin ('GMSoft')         hppa
Uwe Reimann ('Shagoon')       cris
Chuck Short ('zul')           sparc
Todd Wright ('Wylie')         s390
???                           alpha
???                           mips

*Project Managers*            *Projects*

James Boddington ('aiken')    Toolchains, Cross-Compiling
Alex Combas ('creepto')       Documentation
Doug Goldstein ('Cardoe')     Quality Assurance
Jon Nall ('nall')             Porteus (formerly known as Portage)
Jesse Nelson ('Thorbjorn')    ZySecure (security initiative)
Brad Schrock                  Legal Affairs
???                           Bug Wrangling
???                           Marketing/PR
???                           Web Development
???                           ???

*Program Managers*            *Areas of Responsibility*

Frantz Dhin                   Embedded, Legal Affairs, Marketing/PR
Graham Forest                 Web Dev, PPC, Perl
Jack Morgan                   Infrastructure, Doc, Sparc arch

???                           LiveCD coordinator
???                           Multiple Arch managers desired
???                           ???

* - Information detailing Emmett's "Mad" involvement with the Zynot
Foundation will be posted soon.

== Architectural Committee ==

The Desktop, Server, and Embedded meta-manager positions serve to manage
the "major features" of the distribution.  These are the big bad bullet
points that project management can tick off, and each lead should be
able to tick of a number of sub-project leaders that contribute "minor
features" that major domain.

This high level team collectively determines the overarching vision that
guides all of the projects and resources in one unified direction.  It
is not the board of directors: these positions will be appointed by the
board, and while initially there may be some overlap, the board will be
elected by Foundation members. (The definition of membership is still
being determined, and alternatives will be presented in the forthcoming
management paper.)

These individuals are responsible for working with the various
architecture, project, and program managers to ensure that the overall
projects needs are being addressed.  Presently, we have a clear need for
architects for the Server and Desktop domains.

** - I would also like to find people to assist me with architecting the
Embedded and Zyrvices projects; I have very clear visions about where
these projects should go, but I must empower others to carry them out
fully, as my time is better spent on matters improving the entire
distribution. (I intend to make another post to cover this fully.)

== Project Management ==

The project managers will be responsible for developing all policies and
procedures required for the team to accomplish its function.  This
includes drafting the specifications of technical, cultural, and
political policies for all aspects of their operating unit.  The initial
drafting and ongoing revisions of these policies will be guided by the
Architectural Committee and subject to community approval.

Because of recent discussion on IRC, I feel it important to make
something clear about "management" in this project.  There is no
authority granted to anyone (including myself) to actively "manage"
people; instead, each leader must communicate their project vision and
find individuals willing to contribute.

There will not be strictly enforced team membership boundaraies, only
contributions to them.  I do not want to see leaders fighting over how a
contributors' time will be spent - show them what needs to be done, and
let every person choose for themselves the tasks they want to do.

== Program Management ==

"Program managers" supplement traditional, heirarchical project managers
by providing management "horizontally" between projects.  Reporting
alongside project managers to the top management team, these individuals
induce fluidity into the organization at the lowest levels of the
structure.

Program managers seek ro shift resources between projects when needed to
eliminate existing bottlenecks or in anticipation of changes in supply
or demand.  They act as liason between otherwise independent teams and
serve to protect the overall progress and health of the project at the
individual contributor and task level.

If you believe you have the capacity for Program Management, please
contact the members of the projects with which you would like to get
involved.

== Only Temporary Assignments ==

I would like to thank each of the above individuals for their
willingness to take on active roles in leading each project.  I would
also like the community to heap mounds of praise on them as you
simultaneously begin directing appropriate requests at them.

With the focus for these projects thusly diverted, I should warn
that these assignments should be considered temporary.  It will be up to
the community to decide whether my appointments are reasonable, and each
leader must pro-actively guide their team to producing results - nothing
is guaranteed.

== Co-leadership Desired ==

Before going on a crusade to oust someone listed above, please consider
that I would like to see each leader find two additional co-leads.
These individuals should complement each other's skill sets and work
styles, forming a more flexible and diverse project management team.  We
should find ways to work together, instead of vying for positions of power.

== Positions Still Open ==

For those projects or individuals not listed, I apologize for
not listing you or your potential contributions.  This may have been
accidental, as this list is not yet exhaustive.  There are also many
projects that simply need to wait until we have progressed a little
further along.

In fact, there are several projects that I am considering for the long
term.  Do *not* assume anything about your project with respect to this
paragraph, come talk to me if you have a project and are concerned.  I
want everyone to know that they are being heard, and I can be swayed easily.

Alpha and MIPS leaders need to step forward; I know there is interest in
both platforms, and certainly MIPS continues to be a viable alternative
for embedded solutions.  Please contact me regarding other open
management positions; if you are still looking for team, keep looking
around.  Project leaders will become responsible for recruiting
additional developers as available and needed.


= What To Do Next =

I would also like each leader to begin organizing their project wiki
page, including culling all of the other pages into one location.  When
removing any content you did not create, please leave forwarding wiki
links to the new "official" wiki home.  I ask that everyone respect
these leaders decisions to make such edits, and feel free to contact me
if you believe their decision was made in error.

Also, each leader should reply to this list with a brief introduction
and summary of your project, copied to the appropriate project mailing
list.  Introduce your present team and the skills you are still seeking
and some immediate goals for the project.  I hope this then leads to
further discussion within each of the respective projects mailing lists.

I look forward to seeing these leaders step forward to assit me with
moving this project toward its first release.


= Summary =

These details are meant to present an immediate sense of the type of
managment structure we will want to create.  It also begins to give
folks a sense of the initial scope of this project; there is both room
to grow and to shrink - where we go will depend on each team's road map.

In the future I hope we can scale back on the middle management by
developing tools to automate many of the reporting and coordination
tasks they perform.  I should also have a draft of my management process
paper, along with a set of guidelines for carrying them out using
off-the-shell components.

I will be posting another e-mail (near the end of this weekend) that
will provide a road map to a transitional developer release.  I
encourage all leaders to point me to their freshly organized project
pages in the meantime, so I might be fully up-to-date with each's plans
and resources.

I hope together these two additional documents will finally provide a
clear vision of where this project is going and what we aim to
accomplish, both technically and culturally.

Cheers,

Zach Welch
Zynot Foundation