Radar 0

[chadwhitacre]

Let's answer my question at https://github.com/gratipay/inside.gratipay.com/issues/163#issuecomment-87856944 by making a ticket and seeing if anyone bites. :-)

[chadwhitacre]

Here's what I'm motivated to do this week, and why:

• [ ] Tweak our work process (https://github.com/gratipay/inside.gratipay.com/issues/163) to get better visibility into individual priorities (what and why), so that we stand a better chance of melding our individual priorities into a coherent whole, so that we can deliver an excellent product that we're all proud of. Internal pressure because I'm torqued and embarrassed about Gratipay right now and I can't make it something I'm proud of all by myself. I need you. :-)
• [ ] Work down our security queue. I want to get down to Security 0 and then write a blog post about it. "Security is important to us. We run at Security 0." Internal pressure because running at Security 0 to me is like cleaning the toilet or brushing my teeth or compiling with no warnings. It's just the right way to operate. I've seen some open-source projects with a lot of open security issues. It's a case of queue collapse (you're overwhelmed, you're never gonna dig out). I don't want to ever reach that point. Let's get to Security 0 while we still stand a chance, so we can stay there and be good citizens.
• [ ] Support @chrisdev @citruspi as they get ready for PyCon (#111, #160). External pressure because PyCon is already scheduled and we're committed to being there.
• [ ] Figure out options for migrating away from Balanced (https://github.com/gratipay/gratipay.com/issues/67). External pressure because they're going out of business in 73 days and migrating is risky and a lot of work.
• [ ] Organize the redesign (https://github.com/gratipay/gratipay.com/issues/3248). This is a big project. https://github.com/gratipay/gratipay.com/issues/3220 and the new Product page were prerequisites. 3220 kicked out a number of issues, next step is to start organizing the work here. Internal pressure because I'm torqued and embarrassed about our product and I see this as the project that's going to turn it into something I'm proud of.
• [ ] Get export UI out there (https://github.com/gratipay/gratipay.com/issues/3255). This would be an easy thing to land and an easy blog post to write. External pressure because US tax season is almost over. We haven't made a blog post in 6 weeks. We should make a blog post at least once every month.
• [ ] Deal with https://github.com/gratipay/postgres.py/pull/43. External pressure because @Changaco wants it and I'm the blocker.
• [ ] Clean out newly visible (because I just realized that we can use GitHub's global issue search) multi-repo PR queue. Internal pressure because I want clean queues.

[Changaco]

I see two items that lead to a blog post, shouldn't you pick one and do the other next week?

[tshepang]

This works out to be a nicer TODO list than anything I remember seing in Gratipay. I hope the other core contributors do the same.

[chadwhitacre]

Thanks @tshepang. It reminds me of the old Monday Morning Missive, but, by virtue of its being on GitHub, it's better integrated into our workflow, and more available to other contributors.

[tshepang]

Actually it also reminds me of that wonderuful service you used to provide. It really was a great summary of Gittip, as well as a nice display of your writing (and thinking) skills.

[chadwhitacre]

:-)

The Missive felt too siloed to me. I had no sense that anyone was reading it. I felt like I was pontificating. Here on GitHub it's much more interactive, which I prefer.

[tshepang]

Yeah, I saw the great effort you put into it, and also had a feeling that it was maybe not worth it, that maybe not enough people read it. The format did not encourage feedback. I agree this is a better place.

[chadwhitacre]

So when are we gonna see a PR from you, @tshepang? You've been following along for years now. :-)

[chadwhitacre]

Internal pressure because I'm torqued and embarrassed about our product and I see this as the project that's going to turn it into something I'm proud of.

Actually, revision: Mediocre product. We need a mediocre product, not (as I had implied) an excellent one. Winners are first to market with a mediocre product and strong marketing, vs. late to market with a better product but weak marketing. Balanced vs. Stripe being a recent, tangy example. Patreon is even tangier. Winners get to clean up. Losers don't. (P.S. This surfaced for me via convo w/ Carol Woody over the weekend.)

Right now our product sucks. We don't need it to be excellent at this stage, but we need it to be "good enough." For what? For me to introduce to people at malls, etc. and not totally fall on my face. Who's our competition? Recurrency and Assembly. Patreon is out of the gate. Let 'em go. We're after Recurrency (tips) and Assembly (open work). Let's run! RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! RUNFORYERLIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[chadwhitacre]

Balanced got squished by Stripe because they telegraphed and Stripe capitalized. That's open company danger. That's hawk and dove. What is it that prevents us from getting squished? Anything?

[chadwhitacre]

One difference between us here vis-a-vis Recurrency/Assembly, and Balanced vis-a-vis Stripe: there's open, and then there's open. This ticket is public, but no-one is paying attention to it (yet?). We have "security" (marketing/biz-wise) through obscurity. Balanced heavily promoted their push-to-card effort.

But, of course, security through obscurity is an anti-pattern. It's no security. What protects us from (further) hawkish poaching?

Honestly? I believe our philosophical consistency is our protection. As long as we stay open and funded on our own platform, we are safe. First, because bootstrapping means we can survive for a loooooooong time on fumes (moot-style). We don't have to answer to investors. We have to answer to our (anonymous) supporters, who, we can be assured, are fans and true believers, or at least conscientious users, but certainly not usurious investors. Second, for anyone to ultimately trump us, they will have to be pwyw funded, they will have to be open-source, and they will have to offer open work. But if they meet those conditions, then we win, because they've created the world that we wanted all along. As long as we have fumes to run on, we can last a century. I start pwyw landscaping next week. :deciduous_tree: :leaves: :herb:

That said, it would be nice to take the market from Recurrency and Assembly, so that we don't have to wait a century (decade? ever?) as we do with Patreon.

I'd like to see Recurrency go to malls. Let's build a mediocre product and hit the streets! :earth_africa: :crystal_ball: :lock_with_ink_pen:

[tshepang]

I am not planning on submitting any PR. Maybe someday.

[chadwhitacre]

I am not planning on submitting any PR. Maybe someday.

Okay. :-)