Re: [Savannah-hackers] Requesting help on Savannah?

[Elfyn McBratney]

Richard Stallman said:
>     > Have you considered putting a note in the web pages of Savannah
>     > itself asking for more help in user support?
>
>     No, but it's certainly viable.
>
> Please do it and see if you can get more people that way.
>
>     Speaking of which, we would very much like to know what the FSF's
>     plans are for Savannah with regard to the big TODO list Paul posted
>     a couple of weeks ago.
>
> It isn't decided yet.  Probably we will hire short-term contractors
> for some of them, look for volunteers for some, and some we won't do
> unless a volunteer takes the initiative.
>
>       If his estimations are correct (and I sincerely hope they are
>     not) there is a years worth of work ahead before Savannah is 'back to
>     normal'.
>
> As far as I know, Savannah is already nearly 'back to normal'; that
> list consists of additional work we would like to do to improve
> matters.

In my opinion (and I think I speak for the rest of us when I say this)
Savannah is not back to normal.  Not by a long shot.

First off, our users cannot manage their projects' `CVSROOT/' directories
(modules, cvswrapers, etc), cannot manage their download area (by manage I
mean more than just upload: create directories, move files around, remove
(in the non-GNU case) files and directories and of course upload files)
and cannot even create new mailing lists.

>From the TODO list, those would come under:

  * Create a web interface to manage CVSROOT directories (2 weeks)
  * Create a web interface to manage Download areas (4 weeks)
  * Mailman control from savannah.gnu.org's web interface (2 weeks)

Now, to me, these items are more than just improvements; they are absolute
requirements.  You might say that the second item is not needed as there
is a system already in place, but IMO you would be wrong, as the only
feature that system provides is the ability to upload files, which is only
one piece of the puzzle.

I would also like to ask you to respond to the last part of my email,
which was:

  I also think now would be a really good time to find out where we all
  stand, what our responsabilities are, and more importantly what the plan
  for recovery is.

I suppose we know the answer to the last bit, but what about the rest?

Thank you for your time.

-- 
Elfyn