On Sat, 2009-03-28 at 08:01 -0500, Neil Aggarwal wrote:
> Hello:
>
> Well said!
>
> I tremendously appreciate the effort the development
> team puts in and am not complaining one bit about how long
> things take. They take what they take and that is fine by
> me. Please do not let the negative comments of a few
> people reflect badly on the majority of people that truly
> value and appreciate this project.
>
> THANK YOU to everyone involved in CentOS!
+1
Just to add to what has been previously been said ...
It's a conundrum for a successful project that starts as a loose-knit
consortium of interested folks. At some point, as time passes, real life
injects some demands and the informal structure begins to suffer stress,
evidenced by longer delays or other symptoms.
As someone mentioned, burn-out becomes possible. The contributors may
feel unfairly pressured or even perceive criticisms where none were
intended. This is often due to the natural conflict of wanting to do a
good job on the project and have a life too.
A great deal of satisfaction can be had when the success leads to a more
cohesive and coordinated project that "takes on a life of its own" and
the original members realize they have spawned a long-lived project that
will continue after they make the choice to exit the project.
For this to be realized, it's usually necessary to have a more formal
structure, a transition plan for people to enter and exit the project
without cataclysmic shock, and other such "corporate" structures. The
big downside to this is the inevitable politics that may rear its ugly
head.
As a step to reducing the "pressure" and dissatisfaction of "Are We
There Yet?" ("When will xxx be released?"), a simple publication of a
projected time line will help. It should be updated as needed. It should
understood that this could be another source of "pressure" as a release
date nears and folks realize it may be missed.
<*sigh*>
Everything has a downside.
>
> Neil
> <snip sig stuff>
--
Bill