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Thunderbird/New Release and Governance Model: Difference between revisions
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{{Warning|This is an out-of-date document stored for historical purposes. It describes the state of Thunderbird in 2012. It is no longer accurate as of 2014 when Thunderbird became a formally organized, community run project, independent of Mozilla. This reorganization was as a result of an October 2014 summit of volunteers held in Toronto. The state of Thunderbird today is described [[Thunderbird:Home#Status|here]].}} | |||
Mozilla is focusing a lot of its efforts towards important web and mobile projects, while Thunderbird remains a pure desktop only email client. We have come to the conclusion that continued innovation on Thunderbird is not a priority for Mozilla and that the most critical needs for the product are on-going security and stability. In fact, it is quite possible that Thunderbird is already pretty much what its users want and there is not a high demand for innovation in this field. | Mozilla is focusing a lot of its efforts towards important web and mobile projects, while Thunderbird remains a pure desktop only email client. We have come to the conclusion that continued innovation on Thunderbird is not a priority for Mozilla and that the most critical needs for the product are on-going security and stability. In fact, it is quite possible that Thunderbird is already pretty much what its users want and there is not a high demand for innovation in this field. | ||
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There are currently two editions of Thunderbird: 'Thunderbird' and 'Thunderbird ESR'. Both will be maintained and based on the same Gecko engine release. Only 'Thunderbird' is affected by the change: | There are currently two editions of Thunderbird: 'Thunderbird' and 'Thunderbird ESR'. Both will be maintained and based on the same Gecko engine release. Only 'Thunderbird' is affected by the change: | ||
* A new release of Thunderbird ESR | * A new release of Thunderbird ESR is available since November 20th, 2012. As defined in the [http://www.mozilla.org/thunderbird/organizations/faq/ Thunderbird ESR plan], it has inherited the then-current Thunderbird feature-set. This release will be updated every six weeks, for the duration of the ESR cycle to ensure the best possible security and stability for organizations. | ||
* At the same time, Thunderbird | * At the same time, Thunderbird has been released with the same feature set as Thunderbird ESR and will be updated every six-weeks for security and stability. However, and contrary to Thunderbird ESR, Thunderbird may include an additional release during the ESR timeframe which would include extra features. | ||
The plan should therefore have no impact in the way individuals and organizations use the product and obtain updates. | The plan should therefore have no impact in the way individuals and organizations use the product and obtain updates. | ||
== Governance model == | == Governance model == | ||
Thunderbird | Thunderbird is driven by a lightweight structure, focusing on producing security updates and suited to welcome community contributed innovations: | ||
* Thunderbird modules owners | * Thunderbird [[Modules|modules owners]] remain in charge of their module and allow community contributions innovation on their own merits. Module ownership is open to any contributor and can evolve over time. | ||
* | * The Release Drivers team produces the Thunderbird updates every six weeks and works with module owners on the planning and integration of the community contributed innovations. | ||
* Mozilla | * Mozilla continues to provide paid staff, logistics and infrastructure for the release drivers team to produce updates and new releases with the same level of quality than today. Support continues to be provided by the Thunderbird community and Mozilla continues to provide the required infrastructure. | ||
= Governance = | = Governance = | ||
== | As we move forward there will be two teams responsible for the governance of Thunderbird; Module Owners and Release Drivers. | ||
== Module Owners == | |||
Module Owners are responsible for welcoming contributions and ensuring that related changes that are applied to Thunderbird's code base are in line with Mozilla's values and the Thunderbird Brand, and ensuring the quality and standards of the code via the normal methods of code review and unit testing. This list also applies to the sub-module owners and peers. | |||
In addition to code modules, there are 3 virtual sub-modules handling the following: | |||
* Engagement: activities such as product communications, community members meetups, promotional items re-ordering & relationship with MozGear group... | |||
* Business Development (BD): in-product partners inclusion & revenues, licensing... | |||
* User Experience (UX): across modules User Experience consistency | |||
The list of module owners will change over time. This should generally be in accordance with the rules for [http://www.mozilla.org/hacking/module-ownership.html Module Owners and Peers] | |||
=== | === Roadmaps === | ||
==== Release drivers | |||
Anyone can contribute or suggest directions or features to Thunderbird, these may be discussed with the community and modules owners. If there is conflict, then the module owners will have the final decision on inclusion in the product. | |||
There are no defined roadmaps for Thunderbird, although module owners and the community may suggest areas of focus. | |||
Features are contributed when ready and will be included in the next release. Prior discussion is encouraged for large features. | |||
== Release Drivers == | |||
Release Drivers are responsible for ensuring: | |||
* that releases are produced at the required times, with appropriate support for QA, websites, etc | |||
* the security of the product | |||
* new features have met the requirements for reviews including security and privacy reviews | |||
The Release Driver operations cover: | |||
* Release Management * | |||
* Release Engineering | |||
* Security & Privacy * | |||
* Localisation | |||
* Support | |||
* QA * | |||
* Documentation | |||
* Business Development & Legal * | |||
* Marketing & Engagement * | |||
* Web Development | |||
The functions marked with a * are ones that must to be vetoed/reviewed by Mozilla-paid staff to ensure that the brand requirements are met. | |||
The release drivers functions may be supplemented and additionally advised by community members. | |||
The release drivers mailing list is restricted due to the nature of discussions that take place, for example, about security issues that affect releases. | |||
== Revenues and use of money == | |||
Thunderbird revenues are composed of revenues generated by product externalities and/or donations. Money generated by externalities are to be used solely for engagement purposes. Money generated by donations is to be used for engagement or other purposes. | |||
Donations are for general purposes. They do not grant the donator any rights whatsoever to the product nor are they made specifically for a specific work such as feature development. | |||
The module owners group at large decides by consensus money spending community propositions. | |||
Paid-for development will be very difficult to handle acceptably for the community and will have far reaching governance leadership implications. Therefore, paid-for development should not be considered. Instead, contributions of development resources should be encouraged. | |||
==== Resources provided by Mozilla ==== | ==== Resources provided by Mozilla ==== | ||
Mozilla | Mozilla provides the following resources for Thunderbird: | ||
The Thunderbird release driver team | The Thunderbird release driver team is composed of the following paid-staff: | ||
* Lead Engineer & Release Driver: Mark Banner | * Lead Engineer & Release Driver: Mark Banner | ||
* Back End Integration Engineer: Irving Reid | * Back End Integration Engineer: Irving Reid | ||
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* Support: Roland Tanglao | * Support: Roland Tanglao | ||
* Release Engineering: John Hopkins | * Release Engineering: John Hopkins | ||
* Business Development & Legal: Jean-Baptiste Piacentino | |||
Infrastructure to build and support Thunderbird | Infrastructure to build and support Thunderbird remains untouched (Release Engineering, Web Services and Support services). | ||
== Releases == | == Releases == | ||
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** An additional release may happen if a severe (stability/security) issue affecting beta users is found | ** An additional release may happen if a severe (stability/security) issue affecting beta users is found | ||
** Additional releases will happen in the two cycles in the run-up to the next feature release to help to ensure stability | ** Additional releases will happen in the two cycles in the run-up to the next feature release to help to ensure stability | ||
Although the intermediate release is not desired at the current time, for an intermediate release to happen, the following would be required: | Although the intermediate release is not desired at the current time, for an intermediate release to happen, the following would be required: | ||
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* Website L10n: | * Website L10n: | ||
** This should remain the same process as it is now, unless mozilla.org policies change | ** This should remain the same process as it is now, unless mozilla.org policies change | ||
== AMO == | == AMO == | ||
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* Documentation has good community involvement already, contact via the support mailing list | * Documentation has good community involvement already, contact via the support mailing list | ||
* Need to ensure that the necessary documentation for releases is co-ordinated with release drivers | * Need to ensure that the necessary documentation for releases is co-ordinated with release drivers | ||
* | |||
== Engagement == | |||
* Engagement will be taken care of by a contributor. A Mozilla Reps is identified | |||
* it will cover the maintenance of current Facebook and Twitter accounts, opening new channels if needed | |||
* being a virtual module owner | |||
* managing eventual contributors event logistics | |||
* updating Start Page editorial calendar twice a year | |||
* liaising with MozGear for swags allocation to Friend of the Tree | |||
* keeping the Mozilla brand usage in line within Mozilla guidelines | |||
== Lightning == | == Lightning == | ||
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* There may be a benefit during upgrades, as fewer binary-compatibility issues will arise. | * There may be a benefit during upgrades, as fewer binary-compatibility issues will arise. | ||
* Daily/Earlybird builds have to be monitored more closely, as they are the only notice for major platform changes that might affect Lightning. | * Daily/Earlybird builds have to be monitored more closely, as they are the only notice for major platform changes that might affect Lightning. | ||
== Other Resources == | |||
This document was originally discussed, on a proposed version that can be [[Thunderbird/Proposal:_New_Release_and_Governance_Model|found here]]. | |||