Deadlines & Schedules ?

[Nadim Shaikli <shaikli at yahoo dot com>]

This is a VERY serious topic that has really harmed us in the past and seems
to be a constant thorn in our sides (we need to get out from under this
last-minute rush and panic mode that we see often).

 1. We need to know what are the various deadlines (both internal and
    external).  For instance (and I'm not picking on anyone !!), by
    looking at our project pages would anyone know when is KDE's internal
    deadline (or Gnome's or ...) - by internal I mean, when we (arabeyes)
    are supposed to have all files completed ?   And in order to have an 
    internal deadline we all need to be aware of the external deadlines
    as well (are those mentioned on our project pages ?) - again, when is
    the next release of KDE or ... and what does that mean to us ?

 2. We need to know about every project's schedule (a blurb on the project
    page or a statement as part of the status is a must) so that the various
    people working on something are all aware of what is happening.  This
    schedule would have to encompass point-1 above (ie. it needs to reflect
    the various external/internal deadlines).

Once the two points above are known - the project leaders need to constantly
remind their teams and volunteers about 'em to keep everyone's focus on those
dates (that's where the schedule comes in).

What I see is a bunch of VERY hard working people that are all putting in a
great deal of effort, but I don't see a systematic method behind the scenes
(for the most part with some exceptions).  I think we need to know where all
the projects are at and what their external/internal deadlines are first and
foremost before knowing what should get more attention as compared to
something else (with all things being equal).

In conclusion :-), each project leader should (and must) point out the
external deadlines (freeze dates, release dates) as well as internal
deadlines (delivery dates, review dates) and the resulting schedule
and post this info in some manner on his/her project page.

Does this seem reasonable ?

Salam.

 - Nadim


	
		
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