[boost] Review Manager Assistant Role (reloaded)

Subject: [boost] Review Manager Assistant Role (reloaded)
From: Joachim Faulhaber (afojgo_at_[hidden])
Date: 2011-01-18 11:55:14

Dear list,

There have been discussions around the review process currently with
some positive results and initiatives. There is a general
dissatisfaction with the slow speed of processing libraries in the
queue, the difficulties to find review managers and the accumulation
of "stale" libraries of unclear status.

Thanks to the activities of Volodya, Vicente and others this seems to
improve currently. I appreciate this very much. Still I think, we
should consider changing some of the rules of the review process to
make it more efficient in the long run.

A few points that are important to me:

(1) Public statements on the Boost web page should be true.
    (Currently at least one is not.)

(2) Only libraries that conform *all* requirements for boost
    libraries should be included into the review schedule.

(3) The time a library stays in the review schedule should be
    as short as possible and it'll be limited to a maximum.

(4) The throughput of libraries on the list shall be driven
    by the contributors activities.

(5) The processing of a library contribution can be stopped
    by rejection (no-votes) and vetoes, but *not by inaction*.

The principles that I regard to be most relevant are:

(p1) Contribution must not be discouraged by mere inaction.

(p2) Harness the motivation where it is:
    Development and library contribution.
    Don't expect it to be where it is not:
        Administration duties of seasoned boosters.

I think that we can achieve point (1) to (5), if we shift more of the
time consuming work of the Review Manager to the contributers by
creating the Review Manager Assistant Role as proposed at BoosCon
http://lists.boost.org/Archives/boost/2010/05/166423.php
And every *first contributor* has to take on a Review Manager
Assistant job once.

Since there was reasonable support for those ideas, specifically by
Dave Abrahams and Robert Stewart, I would like to come back on them,
to see if there is still interest. Specifically I'd like to hear what
the Review Wizards think.

Cheers,
Joachim

-- 
Interval Container Library [Boost.Icl]
http://www.joachim-faulhaber.de