Release Management RFP

'''This document is a work in progress and NOT YET ANNOUNCED. Please do not publicize yet. Comments are appreciated but this is not the final draft.'''

MediaWiki is a free software open source wiki package written in PHP, originally for use on Wikipedia. It is now also used by several other projects of the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation and by many other large and small wikis. The Wikimedia Foundation is seeking an individual or organization to manage the release of MediaWiki for third-party non-Wikimedia Foundation users. The long term goal of this effort is to jump-start these activities as community supported functions, thus any proposals that include functions that enable long term sustainability are preferred.

This is the second RFP for this work. See also the RFP from 2013.

Timeline

 * May 26th - RFP Official Public Announcement / Start of submissions
 * June 13th - Deadline for proposals / community feedback period officially begins
 * Week of June 16th - IRC Office Hours with the applicants
 * June 27th - End of Community Feedback period
 * June 27th - Announce winner of RFP

How to Apply
Submitting a proposal for this RFP involves the following steps:
 * 1) Create a proposal wiki page, explained below
 * 2) Answer the provided questions (below) on that page
 * 3) Link to your proposal wiki page below, in the "Proposals" section
 * 4) Announce your proposal on the wikitech-l mailing list
 * 5) Officially submit your proposal to greg@undefinedwikimedia.org
 * 6) Respond to feedback and questions from the community

Creating Proposal Page
To complete an application for the RFP, it is required to post your proposal on this wiki, as a sub-page of this page, with the page name either your name or your organization.

Include on that page:
 * A short description of your organization.
 * Links to and summaries of your Free/Open Source Software contributions are especially encouraged.
 * A listing of your qualifications (especially as they related to the stated Required Qualifications on the RFP).
 * Your answers to the questions below.
 * Any endorsements from other community members or those who have experience with your work. Please have them add the endorsements unless they are unable to for extenuating circumstances.
 * Include at the end an empty section called "Feedback" for interested parties to submit follow-up/clarification questions and/or comments. Please respond as you are able.

Questions to Answer in Proposal

 * Please describe you experience doing public software releases.
 * What, in your opinion, are the current bottlenecks/friction points in the MediaWiki release process? How would you address them?
 * Please describe your general plan for how you would manage the release.
 * Relatedly, the two main releases per year cycle is expected and normal for our community. At the same time, there may be reasons you have to make it different; please explain.
 * The Wikimedia Foundation anticipates providing support for this work for the foreseeable future. However, we can't guarantee that we will always be able to fund this.  Additionally, the MediaWiki community would benefit from a more diverse set of benefactors for MediaWiki maintenance.  What steps will you take to ensure this is a financially sustainable activity, even in the absence of support from the WMF?

How to Provide Feedback
Are you an interested community member that wants to see the best possible selection be made? Then you questions and input are greatly sought after and appreciated!

Please leave your feedback/questions on the relevant Proposal's wiki page in the "Feedback" section so others are able to see and contribute as appropriate. If, however, you feel more comfortable with provided feedback regarding a particular proposal privately, please email your feedback to Greg Grossmeier and Rob Lanphier (greg@undefinedwikimedia.org and robla@undefinedwikimedia.org). Any feedback submitted privately will be kept confidential to members of the WMF RFP Review team.

Proposals
NB: This is where the list of proposals will live.