IT Development/Progress meetings/Minutes 26 November 2013
Apologies and introductions
Attendees
- Katherine Bavage [KB]
- Harry Burt [HB]
- Jonathan Cardy [JC] (first hour)
- Katie Chan [KTC]
- Andy Mabbett [AM] (first hour)
- Michael Maggs [MM]
- Charles Matthews [CM]
- Richard Nevell [RN] (minutes)
- Mike Peel [MP] (first hour)
Apologies
Emmanuel Engelhart [EE] sent his apologies; unable to attend due to a diary clash. Tom Morton [TM] was scheduled to join later in the meeting but was unreachable.
Meeting began at 16:05
Item 1 – QRpedia
It was decided to discuss QRpedia without TM present.
ACTION: RN to write to Jonathan to see how GLAM committee can use QRpedia, copy RB in.
JC joined meeting at 16:25.
Institutions which use QRcodes need to be informed of the impending domain change. So that any outages fall in a time in which most organisations are closed, it was suggested that the Christmas period would be a good time to carry out the technical side of things.
ACTION: KB to consult with TM and RB to see if transfer can wait until late December to minimise disruption of service. Keep Tech Com updated using tech@
Item 2 – FTP service
FTP project suggested by Fae previously. Initially in the form of a grant application, now moved to Tech Com for consideration. Need more information from Fae about potential security risks regarding improper use (sharing copyrighted files etc). It was agreed however that an easy way to share freely-licensed information with other people and institutions would be beneficial to WMUK’s activities. Some services charge per registered user – which would only work for WMUK if the log in was shared – however the Rackspace option charged by data used.
ACTION: Application approved. Buy Rackspace (£12/month for first 100GB), provisionally for 6 months as a trial
Item 3 – voice recording
Proposal from AM to have a web address where people can visit to record their voices online and automatically upload to Wikimedia Commons. At the moment, people are struggling with a mutli-step process, where they have to plug in their microphone, record the file, email it to AM, and include permission. AM is looking for a one-step process.
It was discussed whether the web-based recording would be high quality enough, and whether the process was technically possible, and could it be openly licensed. HB mentioned that openly licensed recording programs are available.
Incentives to get the code aspect of the project were considered to encourage volunteers. RB suggested the Bounty Hunter while AM considered that attending hackathons would be a useful way of connecting with people in search of a project. It was noted that international hackathons such as that held in Amsterdam in May might not be especially effective as people arrived with their own projects. It was suggested that it might be productive for WMUK to host a hackathon.
ACTION: KB to move AM’s bug on bugzilla to the UK wiki and email tech com with link
RB, JC, and MP left meeting at 17:00.
Item 4 – surveillance
MP was the person most interested in this subject – issues such as the use of http vs https – and as he had to leave detailed discussion of the matter was deferred.
ACTION: EE and TM to present a report at the next full Tech Com meeting
Item 5 – next job
Staff and contractor capacity an issue. What is needed is someone who is able to manage the time of our contractors. KB’s report to the board for 10th December meeting will include a proposal for a funded position for a product manager for 2 days per week. Purpose is to drive forward development work rather than carry out admin tasks such as minute taking. Job description will be drafted on wiki and Tech Com members asked to help with the drafting.
HB asked how post would be funded considering FDC’s recommendations in relation to WMUK’s funding proposal was 80% of the sum originally asked for. KB explained that underspend from the development budget in 2013-14 would be carried forward to fund the post.
Proposal needs to be drafted for board to consider at next board meeting. Board will not be asked to make a decision in December meeting.
ACTION: KB and RN to draft job description and circulate drafting page to tech@
Item 6 – VLE
CM circulated draft 12-month report on VLE in advance of meeting. Go ahead with VLE without transclusion of wiki pages due to pressure on costs (specifically contractor time to get Moodle and mediawiki working in concert). Use of Moodle will be conventional with focus on use of quizzes (32 have been prepared so far by CM). Currently using Moodle v2.1, CM wants to upgrade to v2.5. Doug Taylor has volunteered to work with TM on VLE on maintenance tasks. CM will be using Bugzilla to suggest improvements on performance aspects of VLE.
ACTION: CM to use bugzilla for project management
Item 7 – outstanding issues from previous meetings
Due to time constraints, it was decided to defer discussion of outstanding issues from previous meetings until the next Tech Com meeting.
ACTION: HB to log bug in bugzilla about setting up blog aggregator
ACTION: HB to email Stevie Benton about content for blog aggregator
Date of next meeting
As this meeting did not address outstanding actions from the previous Tech Com meeting, KB suggested we should meet in December or early January. It was considered that after the board meeting there would be more to discuss, but that a decision could not be reached now as participation of TM and EE was essential.
ACTION: KB to email tech@ after December board meeting to check availability of committee and developers.
Meeting concluded at 17:45