From kde-devel  Wed Jun 22 09:16:33 2005
From: Richard Dale <Richard_Dale () tipitina ! demon ! co ! uk>
Date: Wed, 22 Jun 2005 09:16:33 +0000
To: kde-devel
Subject: Re: KDE development as a spectator sport!
Message-Id: <200506221116.33765.Richard_Dale () tipitina ! demon ! co ! uk>
X-MARC-Message: https://marc.info/?l=kde-devel&m=111943562303287

On Wednesday 22 June 2005 12:09, Amir Michail wrote:
> On 6/22/05, Richard Dale <Richard_Dale@tipitina.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> > We already have the excellent weekly Commit Digest produced by Derek
> > Kite, which does exactly what you describe. It is then discussed on the
> > KDE dot news site by the 'general public', and the developers often
> > reply.
>
> Yes, but we can take it further.
>
> First, we could have an automated system to pick up highlights.  This
> would make it more scalable than manually identifying such highlights.
>  Of course, such a system may give poor results and might be best
> combined with manual analysis.
Yes, that's what Derek has done. The code is in the KDE svn.

> Second, we could have spectators bet on various events (e.g.,  who
> will win an argument, when a bug will be fixed, whether a new feature
> will be added, whether a developer will gain/lose CVS write access,
> etc.).  This would make things more fun and provide another way to
> identify interesting events.  See the buzz game as an example of what
> could be done: http://buzz.research.yahoo.com/bk/market/index.html
This won't affect the behaviour of developers.

> Third, we could allow spectators to focus on individuals (e.g., see
> all their posts and commits). Popular developers could get sponsored
> by companies just like sports stars.
We want people to partipate, not throw money at us.

> Fourth, we could have expert commentary on everything from code
> commits to interactions between developers.  These experts would help
> the spectators understand key computer science/software engineering
> principles and how they are applied (or not) in various projects.
> This expert commentary could fuel the betting.
Derek often adds his own commentary, illustrated with extracts from 
discussions on kde mailing lists. For instance, there might have been talk 
about whether kde should use cvs or subversion, and Derek will extract the 
highlights from the thread on kde-core-devel. Or when a developer has some 
interesting news about the weeks commits, they email Derek and he will add 
their comments in the prolog to the Digest.

-- Richard
 
>> Visit http://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-devel#unsub to unsubscribe <<