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Board Meeting Topic for the day: User Base, aka target audience

In case you missed the mail, there is a Fedora Board IRC meeting today, at 17:00 UTC, in #fedora-meeting-1 on freenode. AKA: IMMINENTLY. Anyone is welcome to join, and so I hope you’ll come.

Today’s topic is Fedora’s defined User Base, also commonly referred to as target audience, and whether or not that continues to be an accurate definition; and thus, by extension, if the Default Offering continues to be correct, if the messaging we put out continues to reach the correct audience, and if decisions made about how Fedora is made/what it is composed of/how it is positioned *as it is delivered* match up with the user base.

A few handy bits of information for you:

  • What is the Fedora Project?: This page provides highlights of a handful of interesting items, including: Vision Statement, Mission, Objectives, User Base, Core Values, etc.
  • User Base (aka target audience): Detail about “a set of four characteristics that describe the minimum level of consumer for whom we’ll design the default offering.” These characteristics include: Voluntary linux consumer; Computer-friendly; Likely collaborator; General productivity user.
  • Default Offering: This page describes the pieces of technology that we should deliver to meet the needs of the User Base, and how we would deliver them (aka: media formats, etc). In other words: If someone clicks to download Fedora, this should be the most likely thing that they are going to use.

WHY LOOK AT THE USER BASE?

So, I’ll be honest: I’ve written this blog post a few times. It winds up being really, really, really, really long. So I’m going to break it up into a few posts over the coming days (YAY SUSPENSE), but in the interim, I’ll say this:

I’ve done strategic-thinking things as my job in past $dayjobs. While you want to have a mission and vision that is more long-lasting, as a technology company or project, you have to recognize that the *roadmap* to how you deliver on that mission and vision is subject to being affected by many trends, market forces, and the like. The mission may be the same, but how it’s achieved needs to be examined from time to time (I would argue almost on a yearly basis) to ensure that the assumptions you’ve made continue to be true, that you are reacting properly to market influences, user trends, etc. 

I would argue that a LOT has changed in the years since our user base was defined. I believe that many of the decisions we make, the messaging we provide, come from our definition of the user base. And I’m not sure that it continues to be *the best* definition at this point. Moreover, I’m not sure that what we are actually delivering matches up with that user base.  Deliveries come from contributors who are willing to do the work, not from wishing. :D

Anyway. More to come! Join us for the meeting today. I’m sure it will be, um, interesting. :)

2013
04/04
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Because Big Data is Big… according to my data.

That’s right, folks: The Fedora Big Data SIG is here. We’re going to do things. Things that I know that Very Smart People, just like YOU, dear reader, are quite possibly very interested in.

Which things? Oh, Big Data is such a murky term. In true Fedora fashion, we shall do things that people show up to actually do and get done.  Which means YOU can make things happen. Whatever those Big Data-related things might be. Packaging, use cases, feedback, education, this is your spot.

So now that you are TOTALLY psyched: Here’s what you need to do:

  • Join the mailing list.
  • Come hang out on IRC in #fedora-bigdata on freenode.
  • Come to the randomly-assigned-time FIRST MEETING on IRC, Thursday, March 7, at 17:00 UTC. I’ll be the assigned meeting-runner and excitement-gatherer. We’ll be in #fedora-meeting-1 (NOTE THE ONE). Bring ideas and questions and whatnot.
  • Check out the newly-minted Big Data SIG wiki page. And remember: It’s a wiki, be bold, and stuff.

See you all there (in that variety of locations)!

2013
03/05
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FUDCon: Lawrence printable travel sheet – USE THIS AND MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER!

TL;DR version: Download your printable “get me to FUDCon” sheet. It will help you. Seriously.

For those reading on (and about to be sorely disappointed by my lack of spherical or cylindrical  puns):

I know many folks are prepping for their trips to FUDCon: Lawrence – with some people arriving today (Wednesday) and the majority arriving tomorrow (Thursday), it will be a busy time. Many folks are taking advantage of the provided shuttle service, others are renting cars, etc. If you need help en route – joining #fudcon-help on IRC should do the trick,  or #fedora-fudcon will be a good place to just hang out and keep in touch with others as they arrive.

For those staying at the Springhill Suites, we’ll have a booklet for you at check-in (and by “you” I mean, a pile at the front desk, and we have about 1 per person, so don’t go crazy making paper airplanes); and we’ll have more onsite at FUDCon at the registration desk / “Command Central” for those of you staying elsewhere, or just local. Please, please, please take some time to read through this booklet – it is filled with additional details beyond the printable sheet, has a fillable schedule you can use to jot down your planned attendance for barcamp sessions, info about FUDPub, and more.

In the meantime: We’d like to make sure you get to the hotel and event, and know when to be where, so we’ve made a handy-dandy printable sheet to help you do just that. It contains super-pertinent information like:

  • For those taking the arranged shuttles from Kansas City International (MCI) to the Springhill Suites, reminder info about timing, who to look for, etc.
  • Details about when FUDCon starts, and when to catch shuttles downstairs from the hotel, so that you don’t have to walk in the cold, bitter, piercing weather, uphill, both ways. Yes, I want you on the bus on time, and we can’t all take the last bus, so I’m counting on many of you to get downstairs around 8:00-8:15 for the ride over to campus.  So we don’t start late. FUDCon starts promptly at 9am.
  • We will have coffee, water, soda onsite at FUDCon; there is free breakfast at the Springhill Suites, so be sure to eat. :)
  • Emergency phone numbers. Protip: “All the bars are closed” is not an emergency. 

And many other fun snippets and details. But don’t take my word for it (well, you sort of are when you print it out, but you’ll just have to TRUST ME) – DOWNLOAD IT! And then PRINT IT OUT. (Don’t be like Robyn, and print something out, and subsequently leave it on your printer, and then leave. Seriously.) And make sure your friends going to FUDCon have heard about it as well.

See you all as you arrive today and tomorrow. I’m sure that you will all have your ruby red slippers on, hackfests thoroughly planned, barcamp sessions ready to pitch. Yes? :) (Also – if you haven’t put your proposed hackfests or planned barcamp pitches on the wiki yet – there is no time like now, now, now! – though you are welcome to still do so, or invent new ideas,  when you get to FUDCon. 

2013
01/16
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Go on, man. Have a cow. Fedora 18 (Spherical Cow) is here.

Hopefully by now most folks have “herd” the news: Fedora 18 has been officially released, and the Spherical Cow is in the vacuum of the intertubes.

<marketing interlude real quicklike>

If you haven’t read the announcement, I encourage you to take a moment to check it out. Or, take a moment to check out the Feature List for Fedora 18.  But don’t let me stop you if you’re already downloading and just moments away from full-blown F18 glory.

Though I will gently nudge you and recommend that you read the release notes, including details about installation and upgrading. We’ve got a lovely new installer, and a lovely new upgrade tool, so it’s definitely worth reading over. And, hey, checking out the list of common bugs in Fedora 18 is worth a gander as well.

</end marketing interlude>

Moooooving on:

I think I can succinctly, udderly (what, you thought I’d leave the puns behind as we moved beyond Beefy Miracle?) summarize this release event in just a few letters:

ZOMGHOORAY

Yes, yes, I believe that pretty much covers it. 

No, really, in all seriousness: this release was a heroic undertaking. There are people, many, many people, for which the phrase “above and beyond” doesn’t even begin to cover the amounts of effort, sweat, bugzillas, biting-of-tongues, tears, praise, helpfulness, git-er-done-ness, and general awesomeness that I have seen in this release cycle.

The lovely press folks (hi!) who get me on the phone right around this time tend to, and already have, ask the following question: What did you, Robyn, learn from this release? Well, gee, where to begin? Sure, I can go on about hindsight being 20/20, things of that nature.  But the important thing is this: Even though I knew it inherently already, I discovered what an amazing band of people the folks in the Fedora Project community are.  We didn’t shy away from doing the Hard Things, we didn’t abandon ship in the face of adversity, we didn’t give up or cut corners on the things we believed absolutely needed to be done right, we didn’t waffle on our commitment to freedom, open source, to building a quality distribution for our users and contributors. 

As we’re now in the part of this blog known as “full-on-cheese-land” – I’ll add this following thought: We often talk about Fedora’s core values, aka four Foundations – Freedom, Friends, Features, First – and I’m so glad that what we release continues to embody those foundations, every release. We continue to be committed to freedom, to having cutting-edge features, to being a leader when it comes to introducing new technology.  But most of all: We stick together. We watch out for each other. We tell each other to go to sleep, we recognize good deeds, we help out when we can, where we can.

Or to paraphrase slightly (but only slightly, because I already feel dirty not properly quoting Lennon/McCartney): We get by with a little help from our friends.

FUDCon: Lawrence is coming this weekend. (More on that soon enough.) To more heavily modify the aforementioned lyrics (aagggggh): We get beer and a little fun with our friends. It will be a gathering of getting things done and celebrating the release all at the same time, I suspect, and I look forward to seeing how everyone else around the globe is celebrating the release of Fedora 18, both because it’s just awesome, and because we deserve to celebrate ourselves and our great work as well.

2013
01/15
CATEGORY
Uncategorized
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Reminder: Voting in runoff election for remaining board seat ends June 20th at 00:00:00 UTC (so on Tuesday the 19th in many time zones)

A quick and friendly reminder:

As previously announced, the recent Board election resulted in a two-way tie for the third elected seat, between Nick Bebout and Robert ’Bob’ Jensen.

The runoff election for this remaining seat has started.  Voting started Tuesday, June 12, at 00:00:00 UTC, and will end Wednesday, June
20, at 00:00:00 UTC, which is actually occurs TODAY, June 19th, in many time zones.

Please refer to a UTC time zone converter if you are unsure of your time zone’s relation to UTC, such as:
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

Ballots may be cast on the Fedora Elections System at:
https://admin.fedoraproject.org/voting

For more general information about the election, including eligibility information, please refer to:
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Elections

As noted in previous announcements for elections, information about the candidates may be seen here:
Fedora Board:
* Nominations and questionnaire answers
* Town Hall Logs

Get your votin’ on, yo!

2012
06/19
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A different kind of miracle! Join Fedora in a food drive at Southeast LinuxFest for Loaves and Fishes

Planning on attending the always-epic SouthEast LinuxFest this weekend? Stop by the Fedora booth with your canned goods — we’ll be collecting this weekend for the Loaves and Fishes food pantry in Charlotte, NC.

Their priority list includes canned meats, canned pasta (such as spaghetti’os, ravioli, etc.), cereal, canned fruit, and 100% fruit juice. Nothing in glass, please!

Plus, you’ll get a little surprise in return – I won’t give it away, but as you might have guessed… it’s something that is definitely beefy. :) Hope to see you there!

2012
06/07
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Bring out your votes!

So for those of you who HAVEN’T voted yet:

Voting ends today, June 7th, 2012, at 23:59:59 UTC. While you can check a handy-dandy time-zone calculator to see how far off that is, I suggest voting now.

Some other interesting tidbits related to voting:

  • If you just want to read about voting and skip my long-windedness, you can read the Elections wiki page for more information.
  • Voting is available for the Fedora Board, Fedora Engineering Steering Committee (FESCo), and Fedora Ambassadors Steering Committee (FAmSCo). You need to meet certain eligibility requirements to vote, and these vary from body to body.
  • There is a plethora of information available about the candidates, so that you may make an informed vote; I highly encourage you to read these bits of information, which are, again, detailed on the Elections wiki page. These include candidates’ nomination information, including name and brief bio; their answers to questionnaires, which were populated with questions proposed by members of the community; and finally, two IRC town halls were held for each elected group, in which community members could pose questions live for nominees to answer.  Logs for these town halls are available for your reading pleasure. (Log links are appended to the end of each table in the Town Hall Schedule, in case they’re hard to find.  Questionnaire answers have been appended to each candidates’ nomination statement.)

I’d like to sincerely thank everyone for their participation in these elections – whether it’s voting, participating in town halls, contributing to the administration and organization of these elections, or simply helping to remind others that voting is ON. These groups help to steer the direction of Fedora in a variety of ways; be sure to cast your vote to be represented!

2012
06/07
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Are *you* the next Fedora Program Manager?

Many moons ago, in October 2010, I followed in the footsteps of the amazing John Poelstra (also known as Poelstra as a Service) and took a job at Red Hat as the Fedora Program Manager.

As most of you know by now… well, I have a new gig as the Fedora Project Leader, but I am still kind of toting along this job as the Program Manager for Fedora (and other projects) as well. Which means I am incredibly happy to tell everyone that there is now, officially, truly, a job opening for the Fedora Program Manager position!

So, to put this in a nutshell: The bulk of program management in Fedora-land is feeding and nurturing and publishing the schedule, wrangling features and moving them through the feature process, working with the good folks in QA and release engineering as we approach releases to get ducks in rows and do blocker meetings, release readiness meetings, and Go/No-go meetings.  There’s also an element of problem-solving, eliminating bottlenecks, and identifying and fixing broken processes.  The great thing about this position is being able to dive into problems and help people out in fixing them, and being able to do that in a variety of areas in the project. Like John, I also do some program management for other projects within Red Hat, although that was not my primary role right after joining – it was more of something to grow into, and it’s an awesome way to learn how other projects work and do things.

You can read more about the job requirements in the official job posting, but I’ll just point out that actually being part of the Fedora Project community and knowing what the heck we actually do around here is an excellent start, and you probably know more than you think you know. :)   Communication skills, and a dedication to openness and transparency, are also vital. And for those of you wanting to know if you have to be in a certain location, fear not: Candidates can be considered from remote locations, though you’re of course welcome to be in an office as well.

The job posting is here, and  if you think you might be interested or want to know more about the position, feel free to drop me an email at robyn at redhat.com.  But here is a snippet:

This person is held ultimately responsible and accountable for the Program Management side of the Fedora Project. This includes preparing and maintaining release schedules, facilitating cross-functional meetings, providing status to Red Hat, tracking and encouraging the resolution of release-blocking issues. In essence, doing whatever necessary to enable a smooth and efficient running distribution creation and release process through full engagement with the Fedora Community.

As such, this job is exceptionally public-facing and requires a high level of involvement in the Fedora Community to achieve these goals.

2012
04/19
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Attention, universe!

I would just like to rant for a moment. Specifically, regarding recipes on the internet.

When you leave a “review” stating:

“This recipe was great! I followed it almost exactly. Except that instead of beef, I used pork; I used chicken broth instead of cream of broccoli.  Also, I cooked it on the stove instead of in the oven. Oh, and I didn’t have paprika, or pepper, but it seemed okay anyway.  And I was out of red wine vinegar so I used balsamic.  Also threw in some carrots at the end to give it some color. This recipe is a keeper! A++++++”

… and THEN you give the recipe FIVE STARS?

Seriously. I don’t understand it. Also: I shouldn’t have to read through 40 reviews to determine that it’s better to “cut the roast into 4 pieces” (though never in my life have i found that in cooking a roast, it is better to have it in pieces prior to cooking it, WUT?).

Anyway: Slow cooker FTW. If i have screwed this one up it’s probably a sign (that chinese food is in my imminent future.)

 

2012
02/18
CATEGORY
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Turning FUDCon into Getting Things Done.

I was delighted this year to be able to actually attend, at least partially, BarCamp sessions, workshops, and hackfests during FUDCon in Blacksburg — quite an improvement over last year, where I mostly ran around like a Craaaaaaaaaazy Woman as the organizer.

Christoph’s idea about talking about post-FUDCon Plans for Action seemed like a great one, and it’s always awesome to be able to see at least the high-level, 20k foot view of what people are going to work on in the coming months, and see if there are perhaps intersections with what oneself might be doing. Here are my plans:

  • Simple FUDCon wrapup: Getting tickets closed, start thinking about Future FUDcons.
  • Writing up some simple FUDCon how-to’s and checklists. The main one I’m thinking of here is the checklist I came up with, with the help of The Amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing Stickster, as a bullet-list for reminders one should hear on the day of a BarCamp, or first day of FUDCon.  I think this can just be a simple wiki page, just called BarCamp Leadership Reminders, or something to that effect,  but it’s always helpful to have a good, shareable list written down somewhere so that every year, I don’t go and say to Paul, “Hey, Paul? Remember that plan I made last year? I forgot it….”
  • My awesome buddies in the infrastructure team, at my request, created a Trac instance for me for doing schedule stuff, which I’ll edit up a bit in terms of the templates, milestones, etc. so that I can have a place for people to request things from me, and I can actually, ahem, track them, rather than forget. Amazing! This also dovetails nicely (and this idea was a result of the discussions) with the Insight / calendaring stuff going on.
  •  Need to figure out a better methodology for FUDCons and ride coordination, both incoming and departing.
  • Taking one of my ideas for better communication and getting a few board members on board with it. Which would require me to explain it here, which I’m not going to at the moment, given the OMGOVERSTUFFED state of my Inbox this morning, but it is just a super simple thing to get people in the habit of doing, and reminding people to do it.
  • Pursuing a number of finance/budget related tasks that I am personally committed to getting fixed after sitting in Board meetings this weekend, as well as some new possibilities in that area.
  • Some thank-you letter duty relating to FUDCon.
  • Other things I promised people that I’ve already forgotten, but know they will happily remind me of, since I know y’all understand that I was having some OOM going on this weekend :)

Aside from that – wow, always so good to see so many of my close friends and contributor pals all at once, and the list of people is just far too long to thank, at least without me feeling guilty for realizing everyone I temporarily forgot. From Cloud SIG folks, to Board members, Ambassadors, Boston folks, people from Red Hat interested and curious about how FUDCon works,  and so many more…  it was just great to not just be able to get things done, in person, but to be able to laugh and enjoy in the evenings, and build those friendship bonds. You guys are all awesome, and I can’t wait for the next one.

 

2012
01/17
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