Planned Documentation Team meeting on June 16, 2005 22:00 UTC

[Henrik Nilsen Omma]

Jonathan Jesse wrote:

>From my point of view the Community Council needs to address the fact that the 
>@ubuntu.com members feel the docteam is a minor part of the project and the 
>decisions the docteam makes to help make the documentation better don't 
>really count.  I've been reading the list for awhile and it seems that 
>someone needs to deal with the fact that @ubuntu.com people join the list 
>post some changes that are going to be made and then leave.
>  
>
I think this point has been recognised now, which is why this meeting
has been scheduled. There is agreement between developers that the
communication with the documentation team needs to improve and there is
a sincere intention to do that.

It may be that we are suffering from our own version of The Two Cultures
problem [1]. Although, as with the classical divide of cultures, it
doesn't have to be like that. The Ubuntu devel community has certain
procedures for dealing with issues centered around the Community Council
(and to some extent the Technical Board). When issues arise, it is
expected that they are raised at a Community Council meeting and dealt
with there. If issues are not raised in that context it is largely
assumed that there is no problem (whether rightly or wrongly).

Conversely, the main communication channels for the doc team has been
the doc mailing list and the doc IRC channel. Doc team members have not
participated very much in the standard Ubuntu communication channels,
such as CC meeting (I'm sure there are notable exceptions though). A
common perception has been that developers are very busy and should be
hassled as little as possible. While it is true that they are quite
busy, a bit of hassle now can often save us all a great deal of hassle
later. If wishes from the doc team are presented in a structured way,
such as through a properly formulated proposal to the CC, placed on the
agenda it will be given its due consideration.

Personally, I am not a Ubuntu developer (in the code-writing sense), but
I am a Canonical employee and have responsibility for the website and
the wiki, which is obviously very important to the doc team. I am very
happy to email or speak with any members of the doc team to hear your
views. Drop me an email with a phone number and a time when it's
convenient and I'll give you a call.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Two_Cultures

- Henrik