Re: (Important) Boost Foundation meeting this Wednesday

From: Vinnie Falco (vinnie.falco_at_[hidden])
Date: 2024-03-12 01:36:55

On Mon, Mar 11, 2024 at 6:11 PM Robert Ramey via Boost
<boost_at_[hidden]> wrote:
> Is there any reason that the new web site could not be subjected to a
> process similar to the formal process for new libraries?

What I decided early on is that we were just going to build the new
website the way we thought would be really cool and exciting, and that
when we had something that was actually at a point that could be a
reasonable replacement for the old website we would unveil it to the
community. There was the understanding that people might hate it and
the work would have been for nothing. To the contrary, I am surprised
and happy to see that most of it is well received.

> This would help build a consensus around functionality, design, etc.

Consensus is admirable but trying to get a thousand developers from
different countries to all agree on what is aesthetically pleasing,
what is elegant in terms of user interface, and what is functional
with respect to a website is an exercise in frustration leading to
failure. I believe that the success of this new website is in no small
part because it was driven by one person with his own artistic vision,
who could see the project through from start to finish and preserve
its creative integrity.

> I just don't see any other way to be sure that all considerations are accounted for.

We account for all considerations by establishing a working process,
where website issues can be opened via GitHub, prioritized and
scheduled, assigned to full-time staff, and then tracked by
stakeholders who can shepherd the issue to resolution by working with
staff. You can see an example of that process at work here:

    https://github.com/boostorg/website-v2/issues/938

This of course will take time so I invite the community to roll up
their sleeves and join us in making this a website that we can all be
proud of which reflects the high quality of the Boost brand.

Thanks