Becoming Effective

[Jono Bacon]

Hi Everyone,

I apologize if this email feels rather pointed, but it is intended
with the best intentions of Ubuntu and the ARB.

In a nutshell, I am really worried about the effectiveness of the ARB.
Back in Budapest I sat with my team to identify areas in which we can
smooth some elements of the ARB process (e.g. requiring PPAs, regular
queue reviews) and I believe we have a submission process that is
effective. In fact, when apps get through they are popular...the
recent Cities, Utilities and Calculator scope have had **8 times**
more downloads than other items submitted via MyApps, and these apps
came via the ARB. This shows there is a thirst for the output of this
board with Ubuntu users.

The challenge as I see it is with the responsiveness and time
committed from the board.

We have always had a value that we hold important in Ubuntu that says
that when people don't have time to commit to a leadership position,
that they step down gracefully. We have always wanted to avoid people
lurking on boards for the purpose of being in a position of authority,
yet not committing the appropriate time to delivering on the
expectations of that board. This is one of the reasons I don't sit on
boards/councils...with my other responsibilities I don't think I could
serve the board/council well with my time constraints.

I am worried about the sporadic and unresponsive nature of the current
ARB team. I have committed extensive resources in my team to helping
the board be successful: reviewing the ARB process with David P and
Daniel H, asking David to put together a regular queue review, asking
Michael to help our lens/scope authors to get content through the ARB
etc. It worries me that even with these extensive resources that the
ARB is unable to burn through the queue and get apps into Ubuntu. I
have seen little responsiveness to the efforts made from these members
of my team, and little responsiveness and sense of responsibility in
delivering an awesome experience for app devs who submit their apps -
the turn-around time for apps right now is making Ubuntu an
unattractive platform for Free Software app devs. Of course, we all
have busy periods...as an example, stgraber mentioned he would be busy
for a bit...that is fine and an expected part of leadership, but we
need to know up-front where these absences occur so we can work around
them.

I believe that the ARB serves a phenomenally important role in Ubuntu.
For commercial apps we are covered...the consumer apps team at
Canonical can review and submit those apps...but for Free Software app
devs who feel the traditional core-dev/motu process is too complex
(which I suspect most Free Software app devs feel who just want to
deliver content on Ubuntu and not improve Ubuntu itself), they rely on
the ARB. The ARB has incredible potential to open up Ubuntu as a
phenomenal platform for app devs.

We have everything in place...easily browsing and installation via the
Ubuntu Software Center...ratings and reviews to gauge quality and user
opinion...the MyApps process for easy submission...an awesome
developer.ubuntu.com...but our challenge today lies with the ARB team
getting content through.

Again, I apologize about the up-front and blunt nature of this email,
but I think it is time we started dealing with this issue. I would
like to ask each of you to carefully consider how much time you can
realistically commit to this effort. If you want to be part of the
team, we not only need responsiveness to the queue...but a sense of
responsibility and urgency in getting items through the queue.
Remember how I said earlier how the recent Cities, Utilities and
Calculator scope have had **8 times** more downloads than other items
submitted via MyApps; this shows the true potential of delivering
awesome apps to our users and making Free Software more accessible to
more people. We need to feel a shared sense of urgency though in
getting these apps through.

Are you folks able to commit the time to getting the ARB and the queue in shape?

Thanks,

   Jono

-- 
Jono Bacon
Ubuntu Community Manager
www.ubuntu.com / www.jonobacon.org
www.identi.ca/jonobacon www.twitter.com/jonobacon