[core-workflow] Tracker workflow proposal

[Nick Coghlan]

On 22 April 2014 19:51, Antoine Pitrou <solipsis at pitrou.net> wrote:
> On Tue, 22 Apr 2014 07:06:53 +0300
> Ezio Melotti <ezio.melotti at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> Not difficult how? In any gamification system, people will work towards
> getting new rewards / awards, not towards making meaningful
> contributions.
> I think something like the Twisted high scores is acceptable (since it's
> quite un-serious), but starting displaying awards will really bias how
> people contribute (with a definite emphasis on quantity over quality,
> IMO).

While I think gamification done right is actually a good way to build
community, I also think we have a lot more fundamental issues just
smoothing the path for the people that *already* want to contribute.
For example, different people have different expectations regarding
the cycle times where their efforts will have an impact - whether they
want to make a difference in a few weeks, in a few months or in a few
years. We're actually in a position to start channelling people more
appropriately on that front, since we do different things on all those
time scales (weeks: documentation, infrastructure & core workflow
tools; months: CPython bug fixes, alternative interpreter development
and packaging & distribution tools; years: Python language design and
new feature development). Yet we don't currently make it clear that if
people "want to help improve Python", there are actually several
different ways to go about it according to their skills and
inclinations.

It's an ever-evolving process, just as the language and standard
library will continue to evolve in response to the changes in the
world around us.

> (it's the same reason I'm rather ambiguous on the whole idea of
> sprints)

For me, sprints are mostly useful from the perspective of having high
bandwidth feedback opportunities, as well as personalising the
experience of contribution in a way that isn't easy over IRC, email or
the issue tracker.

> I think trying to ensure we actually *thank* people goes a long way
> towards achieving the same goal, but without the bias.

Good metrics are actually a useful way to know who to thank, though.

Cheers,
Nick.

-- 
Nick Coghlan   |   ncoghlan at gmail.com   |   Brisbane, Australia