[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Proposal for release manager

[Galen Charlton]

Hi,

Here are my plans for the next Evergreen release if I'm elected as
release manager.

Release priorities
-
[1] Extend support for production use of the web staff interface at
circulation desk

As of today, the first sprint for the web staff interface is complete,
and the second sprint (cataloging) is wrapping up the phase where bugs
reported by the funding partners are being fixed.  Coding for sprint 3
(administration and reports) is under way, as is a project to write an
AngularJS patron record editor.

At present, the web staff interface has been included in Evergreen as
a technology preview and we have explicitly recommended against using
in production.  For the next release, I propose that we extend
community support for using the web staff interface in production for
circulation desk functions, including:

- patron registration and editing
- circulation, hold and monetary transactions conducted at the circ desk

In order to accomplish this, we'll need to

- clearly identify the patron and circ functionality that we'll
"officially" support
- identify any bits of circ functionality that may need to continue to
rely on the XUL client
- write sufficient documentation of the new interfaces
- create a mechanism so that web staff interface functions that aren't
quite ready for prime time can be hidden from the circ desk
- stamp out any showstopper bugs

As release manager, I would participate in all of these tasks, but of
perhaps more import, would do what I can to remove any roadblocks
preventing any interested contributors from participating in this
effort.

[2] Rescue patches in need of unit tests

As release manager, I intend to actively comb through pull requests
that lack unit tests and bring them up to current standards.

[3] Deprecate HTTP in favor of HTTPS

Using HTTP presents a risk to the privacy of library patrons, and it
is clear that the trend for web applications is to use HTTPS across
the board.  At the same time, projects like Let's Encrypt are lowering
the bar for easily (and cheaply) obtaining SSL certificates.
Consequently, for the next release I propose that:

- the default configuration for new installations of Evergreen (and
OpenSRF) not enable HTTP
- we provide upgrade instructions for disabling HTTP (except for the
purpose of immediately redirecting to HTTPS)
- we tie up any mixed-content loose ends

[4] Document ways to use SIP2 more securely

SIP2 is another unencrypted protocol, and one that many libraries are
stuck using for the moment.  For the next release, I propose that
Evergreen distribute example configurations and documentation on how
to tunnel SIP2 traffic (e.g., via stunnel or SSH).

Because this release would be the first where (a portion) of the web
staff interface would be meant for production use, I propose that we
call it 3.0.0.

Schedule
-
* 5 February 2015: feature slush - at this point in the release, all
significant feature branches should have LP bugfixes and pull
requests. I would reserve the right to bump any new feature branches
that come in after this date to the fall 2016 release.
* 19 February 2015: feature freeze - no non-bugfix patches to be pushed
* 25 February 2015: beta release
* 10 March 2015: release candidate
* 17 March 2015: 3.0.0 released

Questions? Please don't hesitate to ask me.

Regards,

Galen
-- 
Galen Charlton
Infrastructure and Added Services Manager
Equinox Software, Inc. / The Open Source Experts
email:  g...@esilibrary.com
direct: +1 770-709-5581
cell:   +1 404-984-4366
skype:  gmcharlt
web:http://www.esilibrary.com/
Supporting Koha and Evergreen: http://koha-community.org &
http://evergreen-ils.org

Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Proposal for release manager

[Galen Charlton]

Hi,

On Fri, Oct 16, 2015 at 3:28 PM, Galen Charlton  wrote:
> Schedule
> -
> * 5 February 2015: feature slush - at this point in the release, all
> significant feature branches should have LP bugfixes and pull
> requests. I would reserve the right to bump any new feature branches
> that come in after this date to the fall 2016 release.
> * 19 February 2015: feature freeze - no non-bugfix patches to be pushed
> * 25 February 2015: beta release
> * 10 March 2015: release candidate
> * 17 March 2015: 3.0.0 released

And since my release priorities don't include the development of a
TARDIS, here's what I meant:

* 5 February 2016: feature slush - at this point in the release, all
significant feature branches should have LP bugfixes and pull
requests. I would reserve the right to bump any new feature branches
that come in after this date to the fall 2016 release.
* 19 February 2016: feature freeze - no non-bugfix patches to be pushed
* 25 February 2016: beta release
* 10 March 2016: release candidate
* 17 March 2016: 3.0.0 released

Regards,

Galen
-- 
Galen Charlton
Infrastructure and Added Services Manager
Equinox Software, Inc. / The Open Source Experts
email:  g...@esilibrary.com
direct: +1 770-709-5581
cell:   +1 404-984-4366
skype:  gmcharlt
web:http://www.esilibrary.com/
Supporting Koha and Evergreen: http://koha-community.org &
http://evergreen-ils.org

Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] [OPEN-ILS-DEV] Proposal for release manager

[Rogan Hamby]

>From my stand point in looking forward to rolling out the web based staff
client at service locations I like this plan quite a bit.  I also want to
see finding ways to make SIP more secure since (tragically) I don't think
vendors will be moving away from it anytime soon and I agree that tunneling
it is probably the most practical approach at this time.

On Fri, Oct 16, 2015 at 3:28 PM, Galen Charlton  wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Here are my plans for the next Evergreen release if I'm elected as
> release manager.
>
> Release priorities
> -
> [1] Extend support for production use of the web staff interface at
> circulation desk
>
> As of today, the first sprint for the web staff interface is complete,
> and the second sprint (cataloging) is wrapping up the phase where bugs
> reported by the funding partners are being fixed.  Coding for sprint 3
> (administration and reports) is under way, as is a project to write an
> AngularJS patron record editor.
>
> At present, the web staff interface has been included in Evergreen as
> a technology preview and we have explicitly recommended against using
> in production.  For the next release, I propose that we extend
> community support for using the web staff interface in production for
> circulation desk functions, including:
>
> - patron registration and editing
> - circulation, hold and monetary transactions conducted at the circ desk
>
> In order to accomplish this, we'll need to
>
> - clearly identify the patron and circ functionality that we'll
> "officially" support
> - identify any bits of circ functionality that may need to continue to
> rely on the XUL client
> - write sufficient documentation of the new interfaces
> - create a mechanism so that web staff interface functions that aren't
> quite ready for prime time can be hidden from the circ desk
> - stamp out any showstopper bugs
>
> As release manager, I would participate in all of these tasks, but of
> perhaps more import, would do what I can to remove any roadblocks
> preventing any interested contributors from participating in this
> effort.
>
> [2] Rescue patches in need of unit tests
>
> As release manager, I intend to actively comb through pull requests
> that lack unit tests and bring them up to current standards.
>
> [3] Deprecate HTTP in favor of HTTPS
>
> Using HTTP presents a risk to the privacy of library patrons, and it
> is clear that the trend for web applications is to use HTTPS across
> the board.  At the same time, projects like Let's Encrypt are lowering
> the bar for easily (and cheaply) obtaining SSL certificates.
> Consequently, for the next release I propose that:
>
> - the default configuration for new installations of Evergreen (and
> OpenSRF) not enable HTTP
> - we provide upgrade instructions for disabling HTTP (except for the
> purpose of immediately redirecting to HTTPS)
> - we tie up any mixed-content loose ends
>
> [4] Document ways to use SIP2 more securely
>
> SIP2 is another unencrypted protocol, and one that many libraries are
> stuck using for the moment.  For the next release, I propose that
> Evergreen distribute example configurations and documentation on how
> to tunnel SIP2 traffic (e.g., via stunnel or SSH).
>
> Because this release would be the first where (a portion) of the web
> staff interface would be meant for production use, I propose that we
> call it 3.0.0.
>
> Schedule
> -
> * 5 February 2015: feature slush - at this point in the release, all
> significant feature branches should have LP bugfixes and pull
> requests. I would reserve the right to bump any new feature branches
> that come in after this date to the fall 2016 release.
> * 19 February 2015: feature freeze - no non-bugfix patches to be pushed
> * 25 February 2015: beta release
> * 10 March 2015: release candidate
> * 17 March 2015: 3.0.0 released
>
> Questions? Please don't hesitate to ask me.
>
> Regards,
>
> Galen
> --
> Galen Charlton
> Infrastructure and Added Services Manager
> Equinox Software, Inc. / The Open Source Experts
> email:  g...@esilibrary.com
> direct: +1 770-709-5581
> cell:   +1 404-984-4366
> skype:  gmcharlt
> web:http://www.esilibrary.com/
> Supporting Koha and Evergreen: http://koha-community.org &
> http://evergreen-ils.org
>



-- 

Rogan Hamby, MLS, CCNP, MIA
Managers Headquarters Library and Reference Services,
York County Library System

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit
me.”
― C.S. Lewis 

Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Clear Holdshelf Report?

[Josh Stompro]

I just wanted to reply that the solution to my problem was the fact that there 
is a way to sort in receipt templates, I just didn't know about it.

It isn't in the official docs right now, but the details can be found on the 
MassLNC site at
http://masslnc.org/node/2528#Sorting_of_slips

Josh Stompro - LARL IT Director

From: Open-ils-general 
[mailto:open-ils-general-boun...@list.georgialibraries.org] On Behalf Of Josh 
Stompro
Sent: Wednesday, September 23, 2015 9:44 AM
To: Evergreen Discussion Group (open-ils-general@list.georgialibraries.org)
Subject: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Clear Holdshelf Report?

Has anyone tried replicating the clear holdshelf process with a report that 
gets sent out on a regular basis?  I'm running into a few annoyances/roadblocks 
in making this process easy, a report that gets sent out via email every 
morning would make it very simple.


1.   Initial setup of columns in the view holdshelf area. ( I think this 
can be standardized by setting a global default though).

2.   Number of steps to get the information and have it sorted in the 
correct order.  Having to re-sort on several columns each time the view holds 
interface is loaded is an extra couple steps.

3.   %patron_barcode% doesn't work in hold shelf receipt templates.  Our 
hold shelves are self service, we print a code that includes the last two 
digits of the barcode on the hold slip.  So staff need to know that code when 
pulling items off of the holdshelf since that code is how the items are ordered 
on the holdshelf.  https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1254205

A report would make it easy to automate this process, no need for staff to deal 
with sorting the list each time it is run, or dealing with the receipt template 
that won't have the full sort code.  Staff members would just print off the 
list and pull the items for check-in with the clear-holdshelf modifier.

Josh

Lake Agassiz Regional Library - Moorhead MN larl.org
Josh Stompro | Office 218.233.3757 EXT-139
LARL IT Director | Cell 218.790.2110

[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Central/Global Receipt Templates by workstation OU?

[Josh Stompro]

Hello, I've setup the server side stored Print Templates using the 
/openils/var/web/xul/server/skin/custom.js method shown here.

http://wiki.evergreen-ils.org/doku.php?id=scratchpad:random_magic_spells#override_receipt_templates_globally

Does anyone know if the workstation OU shortname is available to that bit of 
code when it is executed?  I would like to be able to have a file per 
workstation OU shortname so I can customize some slips, and just use symlinks 
on the server to point to different files.  We all use the same receipt 
templates except for a few sites that have different hold slips based on what 
kind of furniture they have.

Thanks
Josh

Lake Agassiz Regional Library - Moorhead MN larl.org
Josh Stompro | Office 218.233.3757 EXT-139
LARL IT Director | Cell 218.790.2110

Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] [OPEN-ILS-DEV] Proposal for release manager

[Dan Scott]

On Fri, Oct 16, 2015 at 3:38 PM, Rogan Hamby 
wrote:

> From my stand point in looking forward to rolling out the web based staff
> client at service locations I like this plan quite a bit.  I also want to
> see finding ways to make SIP more secure since (tragically) I don't think
> vendors will be moving away from it anytime soon and I agree that tunneling
> it is probably the most practical approach at this time.
>

Major +1 to including docs for SSH tunneling for SIP, potentially LDAP too
where for some reason TLS isn't supported (we've done both). For those who
might want some docs to start with now, check out
https://coffeecode.net/archives/219-Setting-up-secure-self-check-connections-using-SIP-tunneled-through-SSH.html
is CC-BY-SA, but given that it's 5+ years old, probably needs to be
updated, and maybe using stunnel or other alternatives would be a lot
easier :)

As far as the rest of Galen's proposals go, they all sound sensible to me.
Even with the time travel!

Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Central/Global Receipt Templates by workstation OU?

[Jason Etheridge]

> Does anyone know if the workstation OU shortname is available to that bit of
> code when it is executed?  I would like to be able to have a file per
> workstation OU shortname so I can customize some slips, and just use
> symlinks on the server to point to different files.  We all use the same
> receipt templates except for a few sites that have different hold slips
> based on what kind of furniture they have.

Josh, try ses('ws_ou_shortname')

-- 
Jason Etheridge
| Community and Migration Manager
| Equinox Software, Inc. / The Open Source Experts
| phone: 1-877-OPEN-ILS (673-6457)
| email: ja...@esilibrary.com
| web: http://www.esilibrary.com