In July of 2013, we are beginning a quest for improved project management. This might involve using dedicated tools. If we were to use such a tool, here are the properties which we think that might be on the cards.
== Requirements ==
=== Three views of tasks: ===
* by person (What are my tasks? When are they due?),
* by product (What are the tasks in core Tor? Torbrowser? ooni? etc), and
* by sponsor (What have we promised Sponsor Omega?).
=== Several attributes for tasks: ===
* description of what is to be done, including ideal/intended/promised/minimal end states;
* possible: list of subtasks/steps (could be free-text);
* clear distinction between actual text of guarantee to funder and exegesis of that text,
* which product(s) the task works on {core-tor|torbrowser|ooni|bridgedb|tails|torbirdy|...};
* which sponsor the task is promised to,
* [just one, create separate tasks for separate sponsors],
* [reflect on how Tor actually deals with similar deliverables from different sponsors & implement that.];
* who is responsible for understanding the funder's requirements, who is responsible for making sure the task happens, who else is involved;
* estimated time needed from whom, actual time spent;
=== Other tool needs: ===
* It should be possible to make world readable tasks (all our tasks are world-readable).
* The tool should be readily usable over Tor, perhaps even using Torbrowser.
* We should have sufficient confidence that the tool is secure, reliable, etc.
* The tool should be as consistent with our principles of free speech and free software as possible.
* We should readily be able to obtain a comprehensive data export.
* It should be easy to backup offsite as part of our normal backup routine.
* Email notification when you need to take some action on one of your items
* If this is a tool we're going to self-host, we need a plan for who will install, maintain, and update it.
=== Technical solutions don't always solve social problems. Here are some policies we may need: ===
* The tool needs to provide easy, clear answers to "What are we doing? Who is doing it? When is it done?"
* If you comment on a task it is your responsibility to update the flags/attributes to reflect the state you think the task is in after your comment.
* (Possibly, though we shouldn't pretend that this will work without maintainers)
* We should come to a conclusion about how we deal with similar deliverable from different sponsors. This tool's configuration should be consistent with that.
== Options ==
Some proposals or suggestions about tools which might meet our needs:
