[os-infrastructure] The infrastructure

[Alex Hanshaw]

Andrew

 I don't think I'd be wrong in saying that we would all like to see
decisions made for the following items:

 In terms of code line what should the content be for the community
repository?
 
 If the content is a branch what will be the policy for synchronisation
and drop-dead for community branches be?

 How frequently will the repository be updated?

 Will binaries be built and supplied along side the repository updates?
 
 Will any history be retained and if so under what policy? Last stable
build, last x number of builds . . . .

 What is the definition of Community Support? We MUST clearly
differentiate between the service given to paying customers and
community users that want support. This should contain the amount of
time we should spend working on community issues I'd assume Emma's 10%
would fit here, but what about escalations. We often have enough to mean
there isn't 10%.

 Will the community repository contain all available bug fixes or only
fixes that originated from the community?

 I don't think anyone is likely to say that we can ignore any of the
above items. My opinion is that all of these should be answered now,
rather than later. It's no good having the best open source code
repository if it contains everything a paying customer could want
because the customer will stop paying. Sales, Marketing, etc all need to
be involved in many of these decisions. We may need to present the
choices to management but these are management decisions. I'm not in
sales. I can't gauge the point where a customer will stop paying.

 If you'd be much happier in general if we had answers to the above I
encourage you to send a private "agreed" response to Andrew.

 Regards

 Alex