It has been recognised that different products or projects will have very different needs from a software conservancy organisation like the TERENA Greenhouse.  The following proposes a Product Needs Assessment approach that could be undertaken with applying projects to see if TERENA is able to offer support.  The Djangora project results are shown as an example of how this might be used. 

 

  1.  FUNDING AND FINANCES
Djangora responseDjangora solution
How is the project currently funded?  Do you receive money from individual organisations or from grants (e.g. GN3)

Djangora was designed to meet a specific set of requirements arising from the TCS Comodo contract, which did not provide an adequate solution for managing server certificates via federated access. 

TCS members do not specifically pay for usage or support for Dangora but the costs of the support contract are charged to the oveall TCS budget.
How do you intend to fund the project in the future?  Would you expect the Greenhouse to collect funds from organisations or other funding sources? Are there any barriers to this?Via TCS support contract.  Djangora meets a specific need and is unlikely to attract users outside of the TCS service or beyond the current TCS contract so would be shut down at the end of the contract period. Fund via TERENA TCS budget. 
Would you like the Greenhouse to pay individual developers or other staff for you?Yes, 1 member of stafff. Put in place a developer contract. 
Would you like the Greenhouse to pay other bills for you, e.g. hosting costs, promotional materials etc.Yes, for hosting requirements (see below)Charge to the TCS budget. 
What costs are currently associated with the project?

1 developer - up to 90 hours work per annum at a cost of 55 euros per hour.

License for github. 

Can be covered under existing project arrangements.
2.  LEGAL AGREEMENTSDjangora responseDjangora solution
Do you have any contracts or consortium agreement arrangements for people to pay money in to the project? Would you require something like this in the future, are there any specific requirements around this and would you be happy using a generic framework proposed by the Greenhouse?None in place.TCS members do not specifically pay for usage or support for Dangora but the costs of the support contract are charged to the oveall TCS budget.
Do you need the Greenhouse to manage contracts for staff such as developers?Yes, contractual arrangements with 1 developer required.TERENA has a contract with SUNET for a named staff member to work up to a set number of hours against an hourly rate. 
Do you need the Greenhouse to act as a home / signing authority for other purposes (e.g. domain registration, home address etc).No.N/A.
Would you like to run your project yourself but need support in getting advice for writing agreements and managing contracts? No.N/A.
What are the current licensing / IPR arrangements for the product?OSI MIT license. TERENA holds the IPR.  Maintain as is. 
3.  TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTSDjangora responseDjangora solution
Do you need the Greenhouse to offer any hosting for project software (wiki, bug tracker, mailing lists etc)?Yes, a github repository, mailing list and wiki space required.Currently offered via TERENA infrastructure. Github carries with it a cost. 
Do you need the Greenhouse to help you source good developers / software houses?None needed.No action required, but need to be aware of the risk of software maintained by a single individual. 
Would you like to use a central Greenhouse helpdesk manager? None required - mailing list used for helpdesk queries. Consider for future if a helpdesk system is put in place. 
4.  PROMOTION AND COORDINATIONDjangora responseDjangora solution
Would you like the Greenhouse to offer any central staffing support such as project manager, contract manager, or PR and Comms?Minimal time from PDO to manage contracts.  No project management or PR required.PDO carries out this work and small effort to list Djangora on TCS web pages.
5. CURRENT USAGE AND REQUIREMENTSDjanora responseDjangora solution
Please provide some information about the current and potential user base for the productLimited to a sub-set of TCS customers. As expected. 
How many people currently work on the project and what is the expectation for the future in terms of involvement and funding?1 developer. As expected. 
   
6. POSITIONING WITHIN THE GREENHOUSEDjangora responseDjangora solution
Would you be happy for your project to be listed with features on a Greenhouse promotional website?N/A in this scenario. 
Are you happy that your project will sit within a framework of other projects being offered similar services?N/A in this scenario. 
Are you happy that the project must first be accepted by the Greenhouse Steering Committee and will have an incubation period of assessment?N/A in this scenario. 
Are you willing to commit a certain percentage of project funding to the central Greenhouse function?N/A in this scenario. 
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1 Comment

  1. Brook Schofield

    There is mention of the ending of "Greenhouse" (or "Oranjerie") support for DjangoRA

    TCS contract so would be shut down at the end of the contract period. 

    but I think that if there is a known timeframe - then there should be an "incubation" period of a project - and if it never gets to the state of being a "hatchling" and either getting "pocket money" forever (maybe "supported") or becoming "independent" and moving out. That it should be "euthanised" - and a funeral procession formed for its orderly shutdown.

    I'm sure that there might be groups that would want the code of DjangoRA after the project is "abandoned" (maybe it can be phoenixed from the ashes of a cremation) as they might want to fork it for their own efforts. So it should be clear that it will be released on the public github and that all IPR rights will be detailed and a known licence will be used ("BSD w/o advertising") so that people can continue the work without the risk/confusion of unknown licencing of the project.