Core Developer Lighting Talk for DrupalCon San Francsisco by Doug Green douggreen, http://drupal.org/user/29191 I've been involved with Drupal for about 4 years. I've presented something at every DrupalCon I've been to (but won't at SF2010). I wrote coder, lots of search engine work including d6 core improvements, the new d7 search hooks, views_fastsearch, and dozens of other modules I no longer maintain I worked for CivicActions for 3 years. I've work for NowPublic.com, Examiner.com since last October.

1. Core Drupal Product Development
Who Am I?
1. douggreen
2. coder, views fastsearch (now
d6 core search), and dozens
of other modules that I no
longer maintain
3. CivicActions for 3 years
4. NowPublic.com since 10/2009

2. Core Drupal Product Development
Who needs Management?
1. Product Manager
2. Developer Roles
3. Release Cycle
4. Fast Track Bug Fixes
5. Upgrade Paths, Backwards
compatibility

3. Core Drupal Product Development
Product Manager
1. Agile: timeboxed, best
features with limited resources
2. Core committers work for the
Product Manager, not the
other way around
3. Keeps an eye on balance
between killer features and
business costs
4. Responsible delivery schedule
5. Responsible for business
impact (i.e., low cost
upgrades)

4. Drupal Product Development
Developer Roles
1. Inventors, work closer with
Product Manager and have
schedules to meet or feature
slips
2. Fixers, have leeway to commit
fixes to dev branch, and fast
track backport
3. Lobbyists / Politicians,
4. Managers, arbitrate issues
and make final decisions
5. Some people will have
multiple roles, d.o. can
enforce these rules in issue q

5. Drupal Product Development
Release Cycle
1. 2007 Barcelona survey 65%
want 1 year release cycle
2. Discuss now and agree
3. Publish the hard date, make
the deadline
4. Businesses could plan around
the date
5. We need to make it less costly
for business with major
investments, to stay current
and upgrade
6. This will be harder for
inventors (most of us in this
room)

6. Drupal Product Development
Fast Track Bug Fixes
1. I don't have know the solution
2. I no longer "politic" my bug
fixes, I just write them, apply
them to my project, and nudge
to them into core ... this can't
be good, but I don't have time
to "game" the current system.
3. More people with "fixer" role
who can commit simple fixes
to dev branch. Reputation
based, they can be fired.
4. Backport of fixes needs to be
simpler, so they too can be
fast-tracked

7. Drupal Product Development
Upgrade Paths
1. Business invests hundreds of
thousands of dollars, and are
obsolete in 1-2 years, we can't
keep this up
2. We need easier upgrade
paths!
3. Coder and Deadwood attempt
to solve this, but not good
enough tech solution, we
need a business solution too
4. When is core good enough?
5. Can we stop all the
backwards breaking?

8. Drupal Product Development
Discussion
1. release cycle, 1 year? 18
months? 2 years?