The Linux roadmap

Posted Dec 9, 2004 7:10 UTC (Thu) by bryce (guest, #16388)
Parent article: The Linux roadmap

Roadmaps are not incompatible with Open Source. I've been maintaining a
roadmap for Inkscape since we started, and we've found it moderately
helpful for coordinating activities. (I talked more about this at
http://dot.kde.org/1099664490/). A key point is that roadmaps should
_reflect_ what developers do, not _dictate_ what they do. In open source
you can't dictate what people do.

That said, I'm skeptical if a roadmap could be done for the Linux kernel
since there's *so* many people involved, and even if it could, whether it
would be worth it.

Possibly, rather than a 'Linux kernel roadmap' it would be more accurate
to ask for a 'Linux kernel forecast'. ;-)

Bryce

The Linux roadmap

Posted Dec 9, 2004 9:13 UTC (Thu) by tomsi (subscriber, #2306) [Link] (1 responses)

I think that when you are making a product like yours, you will have an intended goal, and an idea of how to get there. It is then relatively easy to write a roadmap; except the time estimates, that is ;)

Also, The linux kernel is now so mature that it is more than good enough for most of us.

The Linux roadmap

Posted Dec 9, 2004 17:34 UTC (Thu) by bryce (guest, #16388) [Link]

It's definitely true that with Inkscape the scope is a bit narrower,
so coming up with a roadmap is a lot less intimidating a task than
it would be for the kernel.

However, we also have a lot of similar forces at work as the kernel
does. The contributors tend to work on a range of things, things
get worked out of order, stuff has to get postponed because no one
is interested in working on them, etc. Thus, I wouldn't say that
making the roadmap is an 'easy' task, but it can be done.

The key I've found is that the development team really has to have good
buy-in into it as a useful process, because much like documentation or
bug tracking or formal testing it needs to have at least a modest amount
of participation from the developers in order for it to function well.

The Linux roadmap

Posted Dec 9, 2004 14:03 UTC (Thu) by dan_b (guest, #22105) [Link]

I'm skeptical if a roadmap could be done for the Linux kernel since there's *so* many people involved,

I'm unconvinced that it'd be any use to the kind of person who wants a roadmap anyway: they're interested in the "high level" view, not just in one single component. A "Linux roadmap" for these guys would have to include stuff about the desktop, the applications, distribution, packaging and support issues, etc. The particular issues about the small part of that system that runs in supervisor mode aren't very compelling at this level.

The Linux roadmap

Posted Dec 15, 2004 16:03 UTC (Wed) by pauly (subscriber, #8132) [Link]

Simply read LWN for this -- IMHO, Jon is actually pretty good :-))