[Ocaml-biz] securing COCAN

[Tony Edgin]

On Wed, 08 Sep 2004 09:46, Brandon J. Van Every wrote:
> So our action items, for now, are simply:
>
> 1) Determine market
> 2) Determine useful, desired OCaml toolbox for this market
> 3) Find existing best fit tools
>
> I don't think these are really 'parallel' problems.  I see them as
> mutually recursive.  We have to work these 3 things until we come to
> some consensus on strategy.  If we get that far, within 1 month, then we
> can execute the strategy.  If we can't build the consensus in 1 month,
> we're DOA.  1 month is an outer, "absolute drop dead" bound.  I'd like
> to see results sooner, I just think 1 week is too aggressive an
> expectation for building consensus.
>
> If we agree that this is the plan, we put it up on the COCAN wiki, say
> that we're doing it, explain the 1 month timetable, and invite others to
> join us.

Are you saying that you want us to act on items 1 - 3 by the end of the month?  
Or are you saying that you want us to reach consensus that these are the 
action items, and reach this consensus by the end of the month?

> Schedule risk: if COCAN people sloooowly, lugubriously roll in, giving
> contributions late in the month, or even after our self-appointed
> deadline expires, then we have to go through the consensus building
> process all over again with a lot of new players.  That's valuable for
> long-term unity of purpose, but draining to morale in the short term.
> The defense against that is to begin executing a plan that makes a
> strong show of "really being an effort, so why don't you just pitch in?"
> In other words, if we are performing, they'll go along with it and not
> just try to start everything all over again.  Or, if they try anyways,
> they'll be made to feel unreasonable and may concede / compromise.
>
> Risk avoidance strategy: use the wiki early and often.  Dump regular
> info onto it, so nobody says, "Heeeeey you guys weren't including us,
> what's going on??"  Or again, if they say it anyways, show how steps
> were taken and their complaint is unreasonable.  Then they may concede /
> compromise.

Agreed.  Update the website early and often.  Create chatter in the COCAN 
domain and our efforts merge.  We need to align ourselves with them, not wait 
for them to align with us.

Cheers.

-- 
Tony Edgin