--- Curtis Olson wrote:
> FlightGear development has exploded to the point where it *really* needs
> a
> full time manager or even a management team. How does that happen
> though in
> the context of an open-source project where everyone is volunteering
> their
> slivers of time and everyone has real day jobs and families and maybe an
> occasional life outside of the computer world?
I don't think we're realistically going to be able to raise funds to support of
full or part time manager, and as you note, it is very unlikely that a company
would pay for management as opposed to specific development. Do we manage to
even cover our hosting costs with DVD world scenery sales?
A far better approach is to look at how we can make our processes more
efficient so that the management (of which you are the CEO) can make better
use of their time. I think what is required is more delegation.
Martin Spott mentioned on the list problems with getting the web-site updated
promptly, presumably because you are the sole maintainer of the site, and have
too much on your plate. I don't feel that the web-site is something that has to
be maintained by the CEO - it could easily be delegated.
Similarly, John Denker recently commented on the huge proportion of checkins
made by Melchior Franz. Melchior does a quite incredible job ensure that the
data tree in particular is kept in good order, and committing huge numbers of
contributions. However, I'm sure his life would be much easier if more aircraft
maintainers have commit permissions. The ocassional bug might fall through, but
most maintainers have enough pride in their work to fix bugs, and Melchior
would still have commit permissions...
The Manual is a prime example of where delegation has worked extremely well.
Martin and I both have commit permissions and have made significant changes
without any need to bother anyone.
Therefore, I think it would be a good idea for you to look at what can be
delegated from your workload onto other people and suggest appropriate roles to
the list.
Of course, good delegation is one of the signs of good management :)
-Stuart
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