Feedback request: OpenJDK Community Innovator's Challenge Grants

[Andrew John Hughes]

On 03/01/2008, Andy Tripp <openjdk at jazillian.com> wrote:
>
>  Hi Ray,
> Here are my thoughts...
>
snip...

> - Proposals will be accepted until March 3, 2008. At this time the
> proposals will be judged by a team of people (we're thinking 2 from Sun and
> 3 from outside Sun).
>
> Make this "group of 5" be an OpenJDK group, with all (or most) discussions
> on an open mailing list.
>


Agreed, I meant to mention this as well and it was sort of implied in my
answer.  Everything about the process should be done in the open, including
the development work itself.

Note that no money will be available until August and all awards must be
> distributed at that time.
>
> It might be worthwhile to have at least one fairly formal milestone for
> each project, so the project developers can be sure they're "on the right
> track".
>


Some sort of mid-term review would seem a good idea to me.  Maybe a mentor
associated with each project too?  Again, the nascent nature of OpenJDK may
make this difficult and really depends on the willingness of the Sun OpenJDK
people.

- Projects can only have limited dependence on Sun
> involvement/participation. This is for fairness across all projects.
> Likewise, projects cannot require a commitment by Sun for significant
> time/effort for success since we cannot guarantee adequate Sun resources
> will be available -- for example, a project to build a better bug database
> for OpenJDK, while very useful, would require heavy involvement by Sun
> personnel to integrate it with Sun's internal bug management systems.
>
>  Each proposal should be required to spell out exactly what it requires
> from Sun. Using your bug database project example, it might require a
> snapshot of the current Sun bug database as simple comma-separated values.
> One snapshot at the start of the project and then another snapshot in August
> to cut over to the new database.
>
- What kind of projects do you think would be valuable to the OpenJDK
community?

>  A "How to Hack the OpenJDK" book.
> A better bug database (obviously, you've already thought of that :) ).
> Massive improvements to the build system (Kelly O'Hair on steriods).
> A remote build system that lets a developer make changes locally and
> submit changes to a server and get back executables for his platform,
> without him having to know anything about how the build works.
> A version of Android based on OpenJDK.
>


As Ray implied, I think anything to do with build/integration issues with
the project would rely too much on Sun to be feasible. The first one sounds
a very good idea, and I think that involving non-development projects such
as documentation, etc. would be a good idea.  There are certainly some areas
of the public API documentation that need work as well ;)  I think some sort
of wiki development would be a good idea for such a book, but again we have
an integration/project management issue in setting that up.

- What selection criteria should be used to choose the best proposals?
>
> The group should just have some general criteria statement like "Projects
> that advance the goals of the OpenJDK project" and then reference a link
> that spells out the goals of OpenJDK. Unfortunately, the only such like I
> can find is this: http://www.sun.com/software/opensource/java/faq.jsp#e
> So maybe spell out the goals yourselves: "increased adoption and increased
> innovation"
>


Agreed.

snip...

> - Who you think would make good objective judges for the program and why?
>
> Inside Sun, someone like you and a Mark Reinhold/Danny Coward type of
> person. Outside Sun, you just want to be sure to pick people who want to
> advance OpenJDK itself, as opposed to pushing some social agenda or some
> OpenJDK alternative.
>


The Governance board springs to mind as an ideal candidate for supplying the
judges, especially given these suggestions (it already has a 2 Sun, 3
external makeup IIRC).


snip...

- How should abandoned or non-completed projects be handled and what should
> constitute a "completed" project?
>
> I presume accepted project participants will have to sign something simple
> that says they will do their best to complete
> the project by a certain date. It should also mention that if they can't
> complete the project, they must post a notice
> on the mailing list.
>


I think an open monitored development process for the projects would handle
what you mention here.  This is a FOSS project, so the work should be done
in the open.  Some of what you're saying seems to suggest that the
participants disappear in to a black hole for five months and then give a
report back at the end.  If the process is open (and also, if each project
has a mentor attached), then such problems would be flagged much earlier and
either dealt with, if possible, or at least some use can be made of the
partial work done later.

snip..

Good Luck with it!
> Andy
>
>
Seconded.  I hope this is a successful scheme and can really help OpenJDK
take off.
-- 
Andrew :-)

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