unity-design team mailing list archive

[David Barth <david.barth@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi again,

With the new ayatana-dev mailing list in place, I'd like to make some
recommendations for managing the flow of conversations between the 2 lists.

 * ayatana@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx is the main list for proposing concepts
or discussing existing proposals from a usability perspective

 * ayatana-dev should be used for discussing the implementation of a concept

Please do not propose new concepts in ayatana-dev, propose them directly
in ayatana. They must make sense from a general design perspective,
before it makes sense to go into the technical aspects.

Similarily, do not "spam" designers with implementation details or API
discussions, move the discussions to the -dev sublist instead, and
remember to trim down the CC list.

Does it make sense to cross-post? In general no, cross-posting should be
a sign  that something is wrong in the process. Or we will end up having
more noise, whereas this new list is meant to improve the signal to
noise ration.

However, it makes sense to cross-post in a few cases:
- checking that a concept is implementable, *temporarily* moving the
discussion from ayatana to ayatana-dev, to "land it" in the reality of
the current engineering constraints
- relaying a usability / design issue detected as part of the
engineering analysis process, moving the discussion back to the main
ayatana list to review the design in the light of technical issues

When moving discussions this way, it can help to CC a few volunteering
designers (or engineers) to accompany the transition and move the topic
back where it started.

Also, in terms of timeframe, please keep in mind that the Ubuntu
development cycle is a key factor:
 * the end of a cycle, UDS and the beginning of a new cycle are
typically the time where discussions about important new features and
their implementation can happen.
 * Ubuntu milestones , like alpha-2, alpha-3 or beta-1, are more the
time for design and implementation adjustments; less time can be
allocated to exploring the technical details of a groundbreaking new.


David