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From: Alan de Freitas (alandefreitas_at_[hidden])
Date: 2022-04-07 18:39:54


Hi,

I've attempted to synthesize this discussion so we might find holes in our
divergencies or come up with something more actionable.

   - This list does not represent my opinions. I marked things mentioned as
   pros and cons with +1/-1. This is also how I interpreted the comments and
   not my opinion.
   - As with any synthesis, there is going to be some error. I'm sorry if I
   misrepresented some opinions by mistake.
   - Solutions are not exclusive and not exhaustive.

## Communication

Problems mentioned:

- Declining activity in the mailing list

- Balkanization of Boost

Proposed solutions:

- Mailing list

    - +1 The medium is not necessarily the problem

    - -1 Declining activity already

    - -1 Discussions about libraries are already on Github

    - -1 Instant discussions are already on Slack

    - -1 _Some_ non-per-library discussions are already on Reddit

    - -1 Feels link 20-years ago tech

    - +1 Discussion comes to the subscribers

    - +1 Simplifies local archives and one can use tools of choice

    - -1 Inability to have nicely formatted code

    - -1 Inability to have embedded godbolt preview

    - +1 It doesn’t interrupt you when “new stuff is available”

- Forum based solution

    - +1 Friendlier from the user perspective

    - +1 Allows one to subscribe to topics of interest

    - +1 Discussion also comes to the subscribers

    - -1 Some find forums inferior to mailing lists

    - -1 Not everything can be solved by new and shiny tools

    - -1 People have already moved discussions to Github

    - +1 Newcomers prefer the web

    - -1 People need to subscribe to topics

    - -1 Integration with email involves lots of important details

    - -1 Centralized services might limit access based on the user's region

    - -1 Forums might require javascript to load content

- Some form of social media management

Related points

- Getting reviews pumping should incentivize communication

## Promotion

Problems mentioned:

- Necessity to highlight once again the important role that Boost serves in
the C++ community

- Newcomers can't figure out where to ask for help and report problems.

- Newcomers find it easier to find support on Reddit, Gitter, Github, or
slack, than on the mailing list.

Proposed solutions:

- Website

    - +1 Make boost.org more modern and relevant

    - -1 Not everything can be solved by new and shiny tools

    - -1 Not many people decide not to use Boost because of the website

    - +1 Could simplify involvement for newcomers

- Use boost projects for website backend

    - -1 May not be the most efficient

    - -1 Off-the-shelf software parts are widely understood

- Some type of campaign

- Identify metrics of success

    - Number of installs

    - Number of programs using Boost

    - Participation

- Quantify where the participants have gone

    - People go to std:: mailing lists with their ideas and bypass boost

    - People go to Github, have their ideas available, bypass the review,
and avoid changing things.

## Contributions and Proposals

Problems mentioned:

- No high-impact library creation and adoption

- High barrier to getting involved

    - Libraries are either too well-written (beast) to contribute

    - Libraries are too domain-specific (math libraries) to contribute

- There is no clear flow to do small improvements

    - Contributors don't know what libs are dead and which are not

    - Contributors don't know what are good issues for casual participants

    - Unmaintained libraries and PRs that get ignored

- Contributors' lack of time

- You are not going to attract new people by making them use ancient
standards

- Not enough women

Proposed solutions:

- Pivot in the direction of more user-facing utilities

    - +1 Graphics clients, window managers, audio I/O

    - +1 Boost is great for supplying nuts and bolts, but it's light on
turnkey application frameworks

- Pivot in the direction of more embedded utilities

    - GPIO, SPI, and I2C

- Drawing in young engineers with fresh ideas and free time

- Somebody making that happen

- Create a list of open questions

- Spend time at conferences cajoling people to act as review managers

    - +1 Good opportunity to find people

    - -1 Boost should not be "two-tier" i.e. those with travel budgets and
those without

- Involve more women: Cold-call a colleague or a mailing list participant

    - -1 Gender has no bearing in the Boost community

    - -1 Information about a C++ contributor other than their code is
irrelevant

    - +1 Ignoring this as an issue is being "fine" with the "status quo"

    - -1 It segregates people by qualities irrelevant to the community

    - -1 It introduces a social divide

    - -1 It takes away from the community's efficiency

    - -1 The problems mentioned might not apply to online discussions

    - -1 It abandons merit as the most important value

    - -1 There's no reason to follow other organization's value system

    - +1 There could be efforts to make any open-source community more
welcoming

## Review

Problems mentioned:

- Declining level of participation as reviewers

- Difficulty to find a review manager

- Newcomers don't understand the review process, although others do

- Newcomers don't understand the process to become a maintainer

Proposed solutions:

- Somebody making that happen

Related problems:

- Requires new attractive proposals

On Thu, 7 Apr 2022 at 10:36, Adam Wulkiewicz via Boost <
boost_at_[hidden]> wrote:

> W dniu 07.04.2022 o 15:32, Mateusz Loskot via Boost pisze:
> > On Thu, 7 Apr 2022 at 15:29, William Linkmeyer via Boost
> > <boost_at_[hidden]> wrote:
> >> Although, I think (or hope) that we can all agree that there could be
> efforts to
> >> make most any open-source community be more welcoming.
> > Yes, let's identify and eliminate technical barriers and chores
> > that work against growing participation by users and contributors.
> +1
>
> Adam
>
> _______________________________________________
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-- 
Alan Freitas
https://github.com/alandefreitas

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