Hi Tajh,
On 3/30/23 09:18, Tajh Taylor wrote:
For quite some time now, we have experienced issues with the Technical Decision Making Process (TDMP). Volunteer contributors and staff have asked if we are still operating the Technical Decision Forum (TDF, the member body that participates in the TDMP). Communication about it from the Foundation has been inconsistent, and interest from the volunteer community in joining has been low. Some of our most senior engineers on Foundation staff have expressed that the process is flawed, doesn’t create room for discussion about the technical issues surrounding a decision, and doesn’t ensure participation by all stakeholders who may be affected by the decision. Suffice it to say, the current state of affairs leaves many participants wanting more.
I'm glad to see this stated in the open, I think your summary is a decent starting point of why the TDF never worked. I do think a retro or post-mortem of the TDF from this perspective is needed.
From the talk page:
The intention of the retrospective is to understand the pain points
and the areas to improve the current process.
What from the TDF is worth salvaging to the point that it makes sense to iterate on top of? More importantly, what is the value in putting in this work when we already have a pending Movement Strategy recommendation to establish a Technology Council[1]? Surely that's a better base to start from?
As much as I respect the people listed on the "Core team", I'm pretty concerned that they're all WMF staff, given that we're talking about performing a retro on a body that explicitly excluded volunteers for most of its lifetime and as you said, weren't interested in joining once that option was given to them.
[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Movement_Strategy/Initiatives/Technology_Council
Thanks, -- Kunal / Legoktm