ICT ALMA Common Software

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Scope

  • Issue Tracking (JIRA, GitHub, etc.)
  • Integration (Interaction with community repository and forked repositories)
  • Main Problems
    • Problems using ACS
    • Usability Improvements

Discussion

Issue Tracking

Alternatives

  • ALMA ICT JIRA Public Project
    • Known technology
    • Easy link between community and internal issues
    • Need to check some administrative details (Max number of users, process to add users, etc.)
  • GitHub Issues
    • Free
    • Easy to sign up
  • ...

Integration

We have 3 repositories to consider:

  • ALMA ACS: This is the repository used by ALMA. Currently, this is the main repository from which the others are generated
  • Community ACS: This is the community repository. This is generated from the ALMA Repository by providing branches with the different releases. It has no history and is read-only
  • Community ACS Forks: These are repositories forked by the different users of ACS in the community which allows them to make and persist changes

Proposal 1


ALMA ACS --> Community ACS --> Forks


  • Main development goes by in ALMA ACS Repository
  • Changes are propagated with each release to Community ACS repository
  • Forks are created on Community ACS repository
  • Forks create PR on Community ACS
    • They're not merged, but used to integrate changes in ALMA ACS
  • ALMA manually integrates chosen PRs on ALMA ACS as part of a release
  • The changes naturally flow to Community ACS with future releases

Pros

  • Low overhead for everyone in the community
  • No need for someone in charge of coordination between the different repositories

Cons

  • Slow integration back to community
  • Some changes may not get integrated
  • Low community cohesion

Proposal 2

ALMA ACS <--> Community ACS --> Forks

  • Main development goes by in ALMA ACS Repository
  • Changes are propagated with each release to Community ACS repository
  • Forks are created on Community ACS repository
  • Forks create PR on Community ACS
    • They are evaluated and merged on community ACS
  • ALMA Synchronizes with community repository both ways
    • ALMA ACS Repository acs/community branch synchronizes with Community ACS Repsotiroy's master
    • ALMA coordinates the propagation of changes between ALMA ACS Repository master and acs/community branches

Pros

  • Higher community cohesion
  • Shorter cycles to get changes in the community repository
  • Most changes get integrated in the community and ALMA repositories

Cons

  • Bigger overhead coordinating changes in Community and ALMA repositories
  • Someone in the community needs to evaluate and accept pull requests

Alternatives

  • 2b: Very similar to 2, but Community ACS Repository becomes the main development point
  • 2c: ALMA ACS repository is just a subtree/submodule of Community ACS Repository + NO-LGPL products

Main Problems

  • Common Problems
    • Technical Documents
    • Tutorials / Cheat Sheets
    • FAQ
  • Usability Problems
    • Brainstorming on Possible Improvements
  • No labels