Re: Running for president? Me?

> > Psst, David, if you were to set 3/6/9/12 month goals, what would they > be? I know you're an active, wonderful member of PEAR already, but I'd > love to know some directions to head in! > (I figure as an existing pear group member you can probably more > clearly set that direction) > I was hoping you'd ask because I thought adding it to my speech would be too typical :) Tasks: ====== - Get PEAR2 out - Put in place the mentoring of new comers program for PEAR - Present PEAR2 and it's benefits to the world (By the mean of conferences, blog posts, interviews, media relationships) - Keep good and build even better relationships with the PHP Group - Resolve coming problems in a reasonable timeframe. - Try to get a move to SVN faster (Even though I do not consider this the president's job) - Attract new developers and bring back old developers that have jumped ships. Get PEAR2 out: ============ I think PEAR2 should try to go out in 1 month top since PHP 5.3 (Beta) should be out anytime soon (A few weeks from now). The biggest fear I have in PEAR2 is it's acceptance. This is definitely something I (as a president) will be working on. Showing the differences and how the previous PEAR "myths and problems" have been resolved with PEAR2. The goal is to bundle PEAR with PHP again :) Put in place the mentoring of new comers program for PEAR: =============================================== One thing that is important to many developers and something that I personally consider "lacking" in the whole PEAR process is how to "join" the PEAR movement. We have discussed this many times with the PEAR Group last year and it'd be great to have a mentorship program for newcomers. This is something that I consider a solid plus value for an open source project. Of course the hard part will be finding mentors, but I think with a bit of help (for the mentors) and guidelines, it should not take much time for someone to be mentor. This should be done 2-3 months after the initial release of PEAR2 (When we start having new people it should be ready) Present PEAR2 and it's benefits to the world: ================================== It will be very important to make sure we present and get a lot of media coverage if we want PEAR2 to be successful and adopted. But presenting PEAR2 means explaining why people should use PEAR2 and why it's actually "better" than PEAR1. How we have optimized the performance, the release process (alpha->beta->stable), the required testing of the packages, why the packages that are stable are really stable now, how to contribute to SVN, the PEAR2 sandbox, etc. The timeline for this is (It has already started and should continue after this year). Keep good and build even better relationships with the PHP Group: ================================================================= Gregory has re-polished PEAR's image to the eyes of the PHP Group over the past year by doing a tremendous amount of PR work. He has shown that PEAR developers are serious developers and has shown the seriousness and professionalism of the PEAR project. Again, this is not something we can build in a year, but a relationship that has to be maintained year after year. That being said, we need someone who has been "accepted" by the Group and someone that knows how to choose his battles. Being open minded is the key in this process and this is one of my strength. (Timeline is definitely undefined since it's an every year project) Resolve coming problems in a reasonable timeframe: ================================================== There are always problems coming up. Developer being insulted by another one, someone copying code off someone else, PEAR Group not agreeing on an issue, constitution having to be redefined, public bashing of PEAR that has to be handled with diplomacy, etc. This is also another issue that has to be resolved all year long. I can absolutely not give you a timeframe for this but I can say that I'll be present for issues. Try to get a move to SVN faster (Even though I do not consider this the president's job): ========================================================================================= It's time to move onwards and adopt SVN. We have already done it for PEAR2 and it's settled (even setup) that we are to use SVN. However, there are some issues with PEAR1 and SVN. This is evidently NOT the president's job, but I personally want this issue to be resolved and anyone able to use SVN. Attract new developers and bring back old developers that have jumped ships. ================================================================================================= Another problem we've had in the recent years is older developers jumping of the PEAR ship. This is something we have to stop and I strongly believe the PEAR2 is the solution to some unresolved answers. Some of those developers needed more than your usual PEAR package. New developers are sometimes interested in other projects for different reasons as such as coding standards, versioning control, etc. We can get new developers by showing them our new "incubator" mode, the release process, the real community involvement of PEAR2 and how it can help either them of their company. I think the future of PEAR is definitely hanging in the president's hands, however, the next PEAR Group will play an even bigger role in this. My role (as a president) will mostly be making sure PEAR2 is adopted and understood, maintain and build new relationships with our fellow media, sponsors and allies. I consider the tasks of the president the hardest tasks to put on a timeline. The new PEAR Group will most likely decide upon the release process we have started to establish last year and such issues which are easier to establish a timeframe however, the President's tasks being much more Relationship Management is done all year long and by each and every actions taken in public and in private. This being said I hope this enlightens your understanding of the direction PEAR should take (which is in my opinion PEAR2, PHP5.3, speed and ease of use) to me. -- Slan, David