[Fwd: Communication]

[Eric Baudais <baudais kkpsi org>]

-----Forwarded Message-----

> From: Eric Baudais <baudais kkpsi org>
> To: Pat Costello <Patrick Costello Sun COM>, Irene Ryan <irene ryan Sun COM>, Eugene O'Connor <Eugene Oconnor Sun COM>, john sheehan sun com
> Subject: Communication
> Date: 29 Aug 2002 23:31:30 -0500
> 
> Sun Doc Team-
> 
> During your involvement in the GNOME project I feel there have been
> times when the intentions and plans of the Sun doc team have not been
> communicated fully to the GNOME community.  When the Sun doc team
> started you said you would document X applications.  This is fine, even
> if you stepped on some people's toes.  We took into account you were new
> to the GNOME community.  In July I thought Eugene was doing a good job
> communicating your plans, but in a month and a half there has been no
> communication.
> 
> The way the GNOME community communicates with each other is through the
> mailing lists.  Typically each project has one "leader" but they just
> organize the efforts of the mailing list with other projects and
> maintainers in GNOME.  Yet the mailing list is the main form of
> communication within the project.  In the past I have written up IRC log
> summaries when important discussions occur in #docs and emailed them to
> the mailing list.  All announcements are done through the mailing
> lists.  It is the medium of choice in the GNOME project.
> 
> It has typically been the standard within the GDP to announce who is
> writing what documentation in order to avoid conflicts.  You will
> noticed I announced I was going to revise the GDP Handbook.  I announce
> each revision (cvs commit) of the Handbook.  When the Handbook is done I
> will announce it and contact our webmaster to publish it to the GDP
> website.  I do not see the sun doc team announcing any revisions of
> manuals.  I noticed a couple of days ago the sun doc team committed a
> large update to the User's Guide.  You should announce this so everyone
> can look at the changes made.  I've heard from Glynn Foster that the sun
> doc team is planning to write a GNOME System Administrator's Guide and
> GNOME Developer's Guide.  Yet there has been no announcement of the sun
> doc team's intentions to do so.  If someone wrote a System
> Administrator's Guide they would have as much right to publish it as the
> official GNOME System Administrator's Guide as Sun does.
> 
> I feel at times the sun doc has pushed people out of writing
> documentation for GNOME.  I was planning to write the gedit docs for
> GNOME 2.  My plans were delayed because of some personal problems and
> when I come back to the project the sun doc team has announced one of
> the first docs they were going to write was for gedit.  I had written
> the mailbox applet docs and asked for editting comments from the list,
> which was not taken by the sun doc team in the doctable--.  The sun doc
> team whipped out a similar doc.  These were isolated occurrences, but
> give the impression the sun doc team is unwilling to use any community
> material and is only providing docs to the GNOME community on an as is
> basis rather than being lasting maintainers of the documentation.
> 
> The solution to the communication problem is to be more open.  The sun
> doc team is very closed when it comes to discussing long term goals and
> plans.  Discussion on the mailing lists is encouraged.  Especially long
> term planning of future goals.  Outline the sun doc team's strategy to
> help document GNOME and ask how this fits into other people's plans and
> opinions.  Collaboration with the community improves Sun documentation
> along with GNOME documentation.  Respect other people's hard work and do
> not bulldoze them over by duplicating their work.  Since all the
> documentation is licensed under the FDL the sun doc team can take other
> people's documentation while the GNOME project benefits from Sun's
> documentation.  Provide a lasting commitment to GNOME documentation. 
> The feeling right now is the sun doc team is only concerned with Sun's
> documentation of GNOME and not with GNOME documentation.  By not
> participating in discussions and waiting weeks to answer emails you give
> the impression the sun doc team is only concerned with writing Sun
> documentation.  It is just by happenstance the Sun managers let the sun
> doc team release the documentation to the GNOME community.
> 
> I feel the sun doc team has not become a part of the GNOME documentation
> community for three reasons.  The sun doc team does not announce future
> plans, does not participate in discussions, and does not accept
> documentation from the GNOME community.  I feel these problems can be
> rectified by announcing future plans for GNOME documentation,
> participating in discussions, and accepting documentation from the GNOME
> community.
> 
> Eric Baudais