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From: Alex Huang <Alex.Huang@citrix.com>
To: "cloudstack-dev@incubator.apache.org"
	<cloudstack-dev@incubator.apache.org>
Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2012 18:23:30 -0800
Subject: [DISCUSS] lesson from javelin...
Thread-Topic: [DISCUSS] lesson from javelin...
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Not sure if DISCUSS is the right tag to use but here goes.

I want to share with everyone a story of how lack of communication turned i=
nto misunderstanding on the javelin branch.

A few months ago, some of us wanted to look into refactoring cloudstack.  T=
here were some proposals sent out and javelin branch was created but genera=
l sentiments back then was the community was pretty focused on 4.0.  So maj=
ority of the people working on that branch moved into getting 4.0 released =
instead.  Occasionally, we broke out some directory structures and merged c=
ode from 4.0 and mainline to bring in the latest code and maven changes but=
 we didn't really have much time to do any work in there.  When 4.0 went in=
to voting, we started back on javelin.  A couple of weeks back, Chip sent o=
ut an email asking about post-4.0 work but at the time we were still pickin=
g up where we left off and prototyping a few things and didn't answer as to=
 what's happening on javelin.  This got community members wondering, and ri=
ghtfully so, why javelin work is not being communicated.  There was a threa=
d started in the PPMC and it finally got resolved when the above timeline w=
as provided to show that javelin actually hasn't been as active as once tho=
ught.
=20
I want to relay this story to let the community know what happened on javel=
in and also to serve as a reminder on the following points.

- It's easy to forget to respond to an email.  So don't be afraid to send a=
 couple more emails or include people directly in the to list to nudge them=
 to respond.
- It's easy to misunderstand when there's a lack of communication.  So comm=
unicate often.  Thinking back, I can think of so many times where we could =
have just updated the community with a simple email.  Particularly when Chi=
p asked about post-4.0 work, someone could have just email and said wait we=
're not ready.  There's quite a few people on javelin and yet no one did so=
.
- It's difficult to get a design completely right before presenting.  Don't=
 be afraid to just put it on the wiki and let the community see it take sha=
pe.

Cheers,

--Alex