Feedback request: OpenJDK Community Innovator's Challenge Grants

[Andrew Haley]

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Thanks,
Andrew.


   Hi Ray,
   Here are my thoughts...

   Ray Gans wrote:

     Proposals could be made by groups of individuals, existing F/OSS teams,
     companies/organizations, Java User Groups, etc.

   Presumably also individuals, right?

     - 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.

     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".

     - 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.

     - 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: [1]http://www.sun.com/software/opensource/java/faq.jsp#e
   So maybe spell out the goals yourselves: "increased adoption and increased
   innovation"

     - How many proposals should be accepted?

   Seven or less sounds good.

     - Do you think the OpenJDK community at  large should have any input
     into the proposal selection process?

   Other than to allow anyone to participate in a mailing list discussion,
   no.

     - 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.

     - What thoughts do you have about how the proposal selection process
     should be handled?

   After the proposal submission period ends, publish the proposals, allow a
   couple weeks of discussion on a mailing list,
   and then the "group of 5" votes. If greater than 7 submissions, each
   person may only vote for 7 proposals and
   the 7 proposals with the most votes win. If 7 or less, A yes/no vote on
   each. To break down the money awards,
   after discussion, any of the 5 can submit a proposal for how to split the
   awards.
   The first such proposal to get 3 yes votes wins.

     - Do you think the OpenJDK community at large should have any input into
     selecting projects that really excel (and be awarded larger prizes)?

   Again, hold the discussions on open mailing lists and allow anyone to
   comment.

     - What criteria should be used to determine the payout for cash awards?

   Use some vague wording such as "Award amount will be based on potential
   value to the OpenJDK community".
   And I would keep it to being based on value, not difficulty. No need for a
   "degree of difficulty" modifier.

     - 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.

     - How should awards be handled for project team members who drop out or
     are added after a proposal is accepted?

   Ugh. That's a tough one. I guess that this thing that accepted projects
   would have to sign should designate a single
   entity (person or corp) that will receive the money, and that Sun will
   award the money to that entity. Who gets
   added or deleted or whatever from the project team is then none of Sun's
   business. You sure don't want to
   try to micromanage that.

   So, this "You've been accepted" document might contain:
   * notice that you've been accepted
   * expectation that you'll finish by $DATE, that it will be reasonable
   quality, and it will be substantially what's in the proposal.
   * promise that Sun will pay the amount of $AMOUNT on date $DATE to $ENTITY
   upon successful completion
   * description of any milestones
   * mention that ultimately, "successful completion" will be determined by
   this "group of 5".
   * mention that Sun stays out of issues about who is on the project
   * mention any help that Sun agrees to (e.g. one bug database dump at
   start, another at end)
   * any other required legal mumbo jumbo

     Please send your thoughts to [2]discuss at openjdk.java.net.
     Thanks,
     The OpenJDK team at Sun

   Good Luck with it!
   Andy

References

   Visible links
   1. http://www.sun.com/software/opensource/java/faq.jsp#e
   2. mailto:discuss at openjdk.java.net

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