So EclipseCon 2008 has a new submission system. I just have one question. Why?
Obviously it looks better and the usability seems better. I really appreciate that. But it lacks some really important features available in the old system. So while Bjorn asks about our opinions on more transparency in the speaker communication the new submission system is in my opinion a step back in transparency.
Just some question to underline my view:
- How can I watch individual submissions?
- Where is the CC field?
- Where will the program committee votes be visible?
- Where can the community vote?
- What is behind those cryptic mailing list names?
- Where is the change history for a submission?
- What’s the secret about the EclipseCon Wiki that several requested access to?
- Why does the EclipseCon Wiki block community access?
- Where can I download the source code for the new submission system? What about bug tracking and development planning?
- Why is it hosted outside the Eclipse.org infrastructure?
There seem to be really good reasons for the new system. It probably has been developed by an external consultancy. However, do all these reasons really satisfy a development approach which looks closed source like to me?
I’m a bit disappointed now. This is something I didn’t expect. Maybe I’m just too curious and a lot of these items are already on an to-do list. But again, where is this to-do list?
I posted a detailed reply to the program committee mailing list. After the mailing list archiver runs, the reply should be available as message 833 titled “A reply to Gunnar’s blog posting about Eclipsezilla”
Thanks Bjorn! I read it it thanks very much for the answers. After doing a submission I now also understand the concept of the many mailing lists better. This wasn’t clear to me before.