Development process improvement/Notes 08 09 2010

=Tools Discussion= Date: August 9, 2010 Attendees: Alolita Sharma, Guillaume Paumier, Priyanka Dhanda

What we need to move this project forward

 * We do not have a documented process.
 * Bugzilla can us 70% of what we need if properly configured. We are not using it right.
 * We need a separate tool for more powerful Project management features. (Either a bugzilla extension, a mediawiki extension or a something completely different)
 * Alolita: What our development process should look like
 * 3-week sprints in which there's a 2-week dev period (specific tasks) and 1 week of documentation / QA / communication

Things to consider while making a decision about the PM tool

 * At every stage of the project / at any given time, we need to be able to know the status of the project
 * PM tool: only internal? open to the community? the data would be public, but the tool may be mostly used by EPMs etc.
 * Competence in hosting it ourselves? (e.g. teambox)
 * Consider writing a MediaWiki extension for better integration with bugzilla
 * Can Semantic Mediawiki do what we need?
 * Would be mostly driven by our requirements, but we should evaluate how much effort it would be to make it work for other people (ask KDE?)
 * CC Teamspace:
 * They built a workflow-based system (for fundraising & HR, not for development tasks) by writing a layer on top of Semantic Mediawiki
 * What they liked about SMW:
 * terminology was non technical (compared to MW & bugzilla)
 * easier to understand for a non technical audience
 * But they struggled with implementation and have stopped using it over time and moved to CiviCRM

High priority

 * [done] Priyanka: Create a prototype bugzilla on project2.
 * Use it to manage this PM Tools project.
 * Guillaume: put together Requirements document, consolidate, pretty diagram mapping out the dev process
 * [done] Guillaume: ask Robla if the process document can be published on mw.o: not yet, polishing is still needed
 * Priyanka: pull up documentation & emails (bugzilla mailing list) etc. into http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Project:Process_improvement (subpages or links etc.)
 * Guillaume: plan semi-weekly update Mondays and Wednesdays.

Then

 * Get help from Guy Pyrzak who uses a customised version of bugzilla at NASA for PM and is the lead UI designer of bugzilla. Evaluate his recommendation for bugzilla settings for PM.
 * Reflect a test workflow in Bugzilla
 * Guillaume: reach out to Ryan Lane about SMW
 * Decide on a tool for ProjectManagement/reporting.

Useful Links

 * Fedora's development workflow: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/BugZappers/BugStatusWorkFlow
 * Ryan Lane's helpdesk system using Semantic Mediawiki: http://ryandlane.com/blog/2010/03/29/helpdesk-system-and-datacenter-inventory-semantic-mediawiki-prototypes-added-to-my-prototype-wiki/
 * Prototype SMW installed by Ryan Lane: http://prototype.wikimedia.org/smw.1/
 * Coming soon: RobLa's PM document form the office wiki