History:Great Dispute: Difference between revisions

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{{HistoryHeader}}

=The Great Dispute=
=The Great Dispute=


The dispute, which is still ongoing as of 2006-08-21. If the project survives this, it may be remembered as the Great Dispute.
In the fall of 2006, there transpired a series of events that led up what we colloquially know as the Great Dispute.


==Related Documents==
==Related Documents==
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On August 21st, 2006, from 2100 to about 2330 GMT, there was an [[IRC]] discussion about this problem (see [http://chatlogs.musicbrainz.org/2006/2006-08/2006-08-21.html#T21-01-52-447060 chatlog]), which still managed to be less voluminous than the [[Users Mailing List|UsersMailingList]] discussion.
On August 21st, 2006, from 2100 to about 2330 GMT, there was an [[IRC]] discussion about this problem (see [http://chatlogs.musicbrainz.org/2006/2006-08/2006-08-21.html#T21-01-52-447060 chatlog]), which still managed to be less voluminous than the [[Users Mailing List|UsersMailingList]] discussion.

===Underlying Problems===


During this discussion, the participants developed a list of the underlying problems that had led up to the dispute:
During this discussion, the participants developed a list of the underlying problems that had led up to the dispute:
Line 25: Line 29:
Generally, points 1 and 3 were felt to be the most significant, with 4, 5, and 6 also important.
Generally, points 1 and 3 were felt to be the most significant, with 4, 5, and 6 also important.


===Guiding Principles===
To address these problems, a number of of guiding principles for the [[MusicBrainz]] community were outlined; these should eventually have their own [[Wiki Pages|WikiPages]], once we come up with good [[Wiki Phrases|WikiPhrases]] for them (add your suggestions to the Discussion below):
* Create an environment that encourages volunteers (developers and others)
* Transparency in communications (public) and process (documented)
* Seek mediators for conflicts, ideally, even before they occur
* Distribute responsibility, by asking for help, and growing teams
* Needs of the community as a whole come before the demands of any individual


To address these problems, a number of of guiding principles for the [[MusicBrainz]] community were outlined; these should eventually have their own [[Wiki Page|WikiPage]]s, once we come up with good [[Wiki Phrases|WikiPhrases]] for them:
Although there wasn't time to discuss them in much detail, the [[User:Dupuy|moderator]] also came up with a list of various proposals (originally with two items numbered 3, and forgetting to include the last two items) that were suggested earlier on the mailing list, or which were mentioned in the IRC chat:
# Agree on and document development process
# Agree on and document conflict-resolution process
# Codes of conduct for developers and others
# Bug triage team for Trac
# Changes to rollout process (selectable server versions? live-data testing?)
# "Support groups" (like Wikipedia Esperanza, etc.)
# Improvements to development resources (more testing/staging servers?)
# Establishing web "forum(s?)" for better communication between developers/users
# Enhance mb server to collect immediate feedback from users


'''The [[MusicBrainz Principle|MusicBrainzPrinciple]]s:'''
There is much that still needs to be done - some of these proposals must be made much more specific to be meaningful, and some of them are surely quite contentious (notably the first two or three). As a start, if you are interested in participating in one or more of these, please note your interest in the Discussion section below. As the mailing lists have been pretty swamped lately, it may be more effective to create wiki pages for each of these and to have the discussion there; please discuss the page names here before creating them (that will probably happen sometime later on Tuesday).
* '''[[Encourage Volunteers|EncourageVolunteers]]'''

<ul><li style="list-style-type:none">Create an environment that encourages volunteers (developers and others).
==Discussion==
</ul>

* '''[[Make Issues Public|MakeIssuesPublic]]'''
===WikiNames===
<ul><li style="list-style-type:none">Transparency in communications (public) and process (documented).

<ul><li style="list-style-type:none"><small>Alternative [[Wiki Name|WikiName]]s: [[Make It Public|MakeItPublic]], [[Publish Issues|PublishIssues]], [[Publish Problems|PublishProblems]], [[Participate Openly|ParticipateOpenly]]</small>
Okay, here are my ideas for names for the principles: [[Encourage Volunteers|EncourageVolunteers]], [[Participate Openly|ParticipateOpenly]], [[Seek Mediators|SeekMediators]], [[Distribute Responsibility|DistributeResponsibility]], and [[Put Community First|PutCommunityFirst]]. They can surely be improved (especially the second one, it's tough to capture in 2-3 words, especially since "open" and "transparent" are so abused as to have lost much meaning), and made more consistent, so please don't go and create them (yet). As for participation in the proposals, I'm afraid that moderating the IRC chat pretty much used up my available time - I will try to work on this and related wiki pages when I can, but that's probably all I can really commit to at the moment. [[User:Dupuy|@alex]]
</ul>

</ul>
''Please add your thoughts here!''
* '''[[Seek Mediators|SeekMediators]]'''
<ul><li style="list-style-type:none">Alternatives for [[Participate Openly|ParticipateOpenly]]: What about if you have a problem or there is a good common practice, then go and [[Make It Public|MakeItPublic]]! I have not Idea how the "it" could be better qualified to include "I belive we have a serious problem there", but not "Look at what that idiot has been doing". Maybe that is too complex to be caputured in a wiki phrase. :-) --[[User:DonRedman|DonRedman]] ''I like [[Make It Public|MakeItPublic]], perhaps "publish" is the word to capture public communication and documentation. How about "[[Publish Problems|PublishProblems]]" and/or "[[Publish Solutions|PublishSolutions]]"? (I can't find one noun that captures both communications about problems and records of the solutions).'' [[User:Dupuy|@alex]]
<ul><li style="list-style-type:none">Seek mediators for conflicts, ideally, even before they occur.
</ul>
* '''[[Distribute Responsibility|DistributeResponsibility]]'''
<ul><li style="list-style-type:none">Distribute responsibility, by asking for help, and growing teams.
<ul><li style="list-style-type:none"><small>Aternative [[Wiki Name|WikiName]]s: [[Many Shoulders|ManyShoulders]]</small>
</ul>
</ul>
* '''[[Put The Community First|PutTheCommunityFirst]]'''
<ul><li style="list-style-type:none">Needs of the community as a whole come before the demands of any individual.
<ul><li style="list-style-type:none"><small>Any alternativeWikiNames for this one?</small>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>


===Support Groups===
===Concrete Steps===


NOTE: Many of these concrete steps have not been followed up on since the underlying problems are no longer present in [[MusicBrainz]]. This section should be kept for historical reference and to give some perspective to future conflicts.
I would like to work on realising #6 - after reading all the Wikipedia links about it and in case [[User:DonRedman|DonRedman]] can help me with his expertise. :) I think it's important to find an expressive name for such a group like Wikipedia has with "Esperanza". Suggestions? :) -- [[User:Shepard|Shepard]]


Although there wasn't time to discuss them in much detail, the [[User:Dupuy|session moderator]] also came up with a list of various proposals (originally with two items numbered 3, and forgetting to include the last two items) that were suggested earlier on the mailing list, or which were mentioned in the [[IRC]] chat:
====Brainstorm for a Name====
# Agree on and document [[Development]] process
# Agree on and document [[Conflict Resolution|ConflictResolution]] process
# [[Code Of Conduct|CodeOfConduct]] for developers and others
# [[Bug Triaging|BugTriaging]] team for [[Bug Tracker|BugTracker]]
# Changes to rollout process (selectable server versions? live-data testing?)
# "Support groups" (like [[Wikipedia|WikiPedia]] Esperanza, etc.)
# Improvements to development resources (more testing/staging servers?)
# Establishing web "forum(s?)" for better communication between developers/users
# Enhance mb [[Server]] to collect immediate feedback from users


There is much that still needs to be done - some of these proposals must be made much more specific to be meaningful, and some of them are surely quite contentious (notably the first two or three). As a start, if you are interested in participating in one or more of these, please note your interest in the Discussion section below. As the mailing lists have been pretty swamped lately, it may be more effective to create wiki pages for each of these and to have the discussion there; please discuss the page names here before creating them (that will probably happen sometime later on Tuesday).
''(just add to the list, no negative comments)''
* Esperanza
* [[Cup Of Hope|CupOfHope]]
* [[Rent A Moose|RentAMoose]] - inspired by our [[MusicBrainz Slang|unofficial mascot]]; expresses that you "rent" a mediator/helper when you have problems; unfortunately not a working [[Wiki Name|WikiName]] :(
* I would hope we could find a music-related name; a bit of searching turned up [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glee_club GleeClub], which I like quite a bit [[User:Dupuy|@alex]]

While we're at it, we could probably use a name for the bug triage group as well; I thought of [[Piano Tuners|PianoTuners]] but it seems a bit of a stretch...


[[Category:To Be Reviewed]] [[Category:Philosophy]] [[Category:History]] [[Category:Discussion]]
[[Category:Philosophy]] [[Category:History]] [[Category:Discussion]]

Latest revision as of 16:21, 25 October 2011

Status: This Page is Glorious History!

The content of this page either is bit-rotted, or has lost its reason to exist due to some new features having been implemented in MusicBrainz, or maybe just described something that never made it in (or made it in a different way), or possibly is meant to store information and memories about our Glorious Past. We still keep this page to honor the brave editors who, during the prehistoric times (prehistoric for you, newcomer!), struggled hard to build a better present and dreamed of an even better future. We also keep it for archival purposes because possibly it still contains crazy thoughts and ideas that may be reused someday. If you're not into looking at either the past or the future, you should just disregard entirely this page content and look for an up to date documentation page elsewhere.

The Great Dispute

In the fall of 2006, there transpired a series of events that led up what we colloquially know as the Great Dispute.

Related Documents

Currently a random collection of 'places' and events of the dispute.

The IRC Chat

On August 21st, 2006, from 2100 to about 2330 GMT, there was an IRC discussion about this problem (see chatlog), which still managed to be less voluminous than the UsersMailingList discussion.

Underlying Problems

During this discussion, the participants developed a list of the underlying problems that had led up to the dispute:

  1. differences in coding and communications styles
  2. lack of sufficient resources for developers (enough staging/testing servers, etc.)
  3. lack of guidelines or rules of behavior for the development team (and community)
  4. changes in MB as the community becomes larger, and more "businesslike"
  5. failures or deficiencies in the communications forums (e.g. arguments in Trac tickets)
  6. lack of clarity about the "final arbiter" of disputes
  7. missing development guidelines/concept + master plan

Generally, points 1 and 3 were felt to be the most significant, with 4, 5, and 6 also important.

Guiding Principles

To address these problems, a number of of guiding principles for the MusicBrainz community were outlined; these should eventually have their own WikiPages, once we come up with good WikiPhrases for them:

The MusicBrainzPrinciples:

  • Create an environment that encourages volunteers (developers and others).
  • Seek mediators for conflicts, ideally, even before they occur.
  • Needs of the community as a whole come before the demands of any individual.
    • Any alternativeWikiNames for this one?

Concrete Steps

NOTE: Many of these concrete steps have not been followed up on since the underlying problems are no longer present in MusicBrainz. This section should be kept for historical reference and to give some perspective to future conflicts.

Although there wasn't time to discuss them in much detail, the session moderator also came up with a list of various proposals (originally with two items numbered 3, and forgetting to include the last two items) that were suggested earlier on the mailing list, or which were mentioned in the IRC chat:

  1. Agree on and document Development process
  2. Agree on and document ConflictResolution process
  3. CodeOfConduct for developers and others
  4. BugTriaging team for BugTracker
  5. Changes to rollout process (selectable server versions? live-data testing?)
  6. "Support groups" (like WikiPedia Esperanza, etc.)
  7. Improvements to development resources (more testing/staging servers?)
  8. Establishing web "forum(s?)" for better communication between developers/users
  9. Enhance mb Server to collect immediate feedback from users

There is much that still needs to be done - some of these proposals must be made much more specific to be meaningful, and some of them are surely quite contentious (notably the first two or three). As a start, if you are interested in participating in one or more of these, please note your interest in the Discussion section below. As the mailing lists have been pretty swamped lately, it may be more effective to create wiki pages for each of these and to have the discussion there; please discuss the page names here before creating them (that will probably happen sometime later on Tuesday).