Better Developer Communications
As R3 moves toward larger test releases this month,
we've been having various discussions about
how to improve developer communications, but we've yet to find
the perfect solution.
I think part of the problem may be that we've not defined our requirements well enough.
With that in mind, here's a list of requirements from my viewpoint:
| | Developer audience | It's intended mainly for developers to discuss
topics related to R3, including design, docs, code, bugs, etc.
|
| | Low overhead, rapid flow | Meaning we can easily discuss things at a
rapid pace. We've been using AltME for this so far (but it's not the
perfect tool).
|
| | Web visible | Although the forum system need not be web based, it's
useful if most discussions can be found on the web. (We did this
with AltME in the REBOL3 world, and it works pretty well.)
|
| | Threaded | Code development normally focuses on various topics for
short periods of time, until the code is design is decided, the code is
written or the bug is fixed. Thread mechanisms work best for this;
however, they can be inefficient because they require users to jump
around to the different topics to see what's been posted.
|
| | Sectioned | Thread topics can be grouped into sections. For example,
threads related to graphics.
|
| | Multi-associated | We want to see discussions in the chat area, but
also next to their focus of attention. For instance, a discussion about a
bug report would appear in the chat area, but also in the bug system
view itself.
|
| | Open and scalable | More than just a few dozen developers have access
to the discussion. I'm not talking about technology here, just the
concept that any developer should have quick access. We don't want to
create barriers to developer growth.
|
| | Tagable | A way of tagging messages that are key, have future
relevance, or need to be flagged to the attention of someone.
|
| | Searchable | We need to be able to search prior messages, with
various control options for dates, tags, etc.
|
| | Carl must use it | This is perhaps the most difficult requirement. I do
not like to waste time, and if I feel I'm wasting my time, I stop. I've
been using AltME because it's fast and partitioned. I can quickly scan
the top discussion groups.
|
So, now that we know what we need, we can find the best solution now,
right?
10 Comments
|
