"Support Plan" request challenge (WAS: Ubuntu Studio LTS Re-Qualification)

[Erich Eickmeyer]

Hi Lukasz,

I'm a bit taken-aback by the "support plan" request as for 20.04 LTS and 
22.04 LTS this was never requested, and so as far as I know we would 
have to start from scratch. Since I'm basically on the technical side 
for two flavors now, I have to wear both those hats and come up with 
that policy for both. Unfortunately, this wording for "support plan" is 
too vague and needs to be more specific.

At first, I was simply going to request more specifics, but the more I 
thought about it (and took several hours to do so), the more I realized 
this is extra burden for volunteers that shouldn't be, and for that 
reason I'm challenging this request.

In the past, as far as I can find, there has been no precedent for 
anything like this, and I have yet to see any member of the Technical 
Board justify this move as it has never been requested before and I have 
no evidence of a prior request for this. It should not be up to the 
flavors to define a "support plan" further than what has been set as 
precedent in the past. This just creates extra work for *volunteers* 
that are otherwise working jobs (e.g. myself as a stay-at-home 
father/tutor for my son, my wife as a full-time early childhood 
administrator). I challenge that this technical requirement crosses the 
line from technical requirement into community encroachment, which is 
why the Community Council is CC'd on this email.

Please know, this is not an escalation for a Code of Conduct violation 
as, contrary to popular belief, the Code of Conduct is not the only 
responsibility of the Community Council, but also overall community 
health and oversight. I believe this situation amounts to a community 
health issue. I say this as a Community Council emeritus.

I feel like this move is one where the Technical Board, of which I note 
every member is a Canonical employee, is looking at it through the lens 
of people who are paid to work on Ubuntu and not as volunteer leaders, 
something in which I have expert experience and hold a college degree 
and am happy to advise on. I have even offered my knowledge on this 
matter several times in the past and been ignored, but that's another 
matter entirely. However, because I've been ignored in the past on other 
matters, that's why I feel Community Council involvement is appropriate.

Also, do know that I see no ill-intent here as I do see good reasons for 
it, but I feel as though requiring extra work for volunteers when there 
is no precedent for something like this in the past seems like a bit of 
an overreach and an extremely vague request (support can mean anything 
from simple patches to 24/7 technical support which is a no-go). If 
there was precedent, then there would already be documentation for each 
flavor, but I believe a simple agreement for flavors to a blanket 
unified "support plan" would be more appropriate rather than requiring 
each flavor to come up with their own which would take more time and 
possibly definition than flavors should have to come up with.

Thank you for understanding, and I hope we can come up with a solution.

Sincerely,
Erich Eickmeyer

On 11/23/23 09:53, Lukasz Zemczak wrote:
> Hello Erich!
>
> I will be handling your LTS re-qualification from the TB side for Ubuntu Studio.
>
> Thank you for providing information about your team and contacts, as
> well as regarding the length of the LTS support. I think we almost
> have everything to make a decision here. Per the requirements listed
> here [1], the only thing missing from the 'support plan' POV would be
> setting the expectations regarding the level of support Ubuntu Studio
> would provide for the 3 years. Could we have like a wiki page or a
> page on ubuntustudio outlining this? And mentioning the support
> contacts and where to file bugs.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Cheers,
>
> On Mon, 13 Nov 2023 at 17:16, Erich Eickmeyer<eeickmeyer at ubuntu.com>  wrote:
>> Good morning Technical Board,
>>
>> On behalf of Ubuntu Studio, we'd like to re-qualifiy for LTS for 3 years for 24.04. Our team ishttps://launchpad.net/~ubuntustudio-dev  and I am the primary contact with rosco2 as backup.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Erich
>> --
>> Erich Eickmeyer
>> Project Leader - Ubuntu Studio
>> Technical Lead - Edubuntu
>> --
>> technical-board mailing list
>> technical-board at lists.ubuntu.com
>> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/technical-board
> On behalf of the Technical Board,
>
-- 
Project Leader - Ubuntu Studio
Technical Lead - Edubuntu