PTSD After Large Release

I don't like releasing large chunks of software at once, but there are situations where it's easier to swap out a large piece of interdependent pieces than it is to replace them piecemeal.

Except you have to make it through the release.

I worked on replacing the Family Tree database on familysearch.org with a new one.  Old was Oracle, new was Cassandra.

It started at 12:30am and extended, with various emergencies that were handled more or less gracefully by amazing people, until 6:21am.  And then it was done, and we had to start keeping it up.

After a few surprises that none of our simulations exposed, I have enough rest again and can function more or less normally.

However, the anxiety I felt during the release and the uncertainty I felt in the days just afterwards all added up to a feeling I don't remember feeling before.

Then I realized that the flashbacks and the irrational worry about keeping things working - probably some mild form of post-traumatic stress.

Certainly only a taste of what others go through who were in danger of losing their life and barely survived.  Not trying to imply that my experience is anywhere near that sort of thing.

I'm just trying to process my emotions and am hopeful this helps someone know they're not alone.

Open Genealogy Alliance

The manifesto posted at opengenalliance.org is something that I can very much support.

As part of RootsTech 2012, I'm going to sign up for an open hour to talk about open content licenses.  Anyone who has an interest in this topic, please get in touch with me and we can collaborate on the presentation.

I wonder what it will take to get some more visible & material signs of support from archives, libraries, societies, museums, or genealogical content companies on that site.

Something like the contributors listed on opencontentalliance.org.

Perhaps a link to the Better Than Free article is in order.  My personal resources are small, but if there is any kind of material support I can give to the opengenalliance.org effort, I want to do so.

Here are a few examples I could find of license information on open content sites (some related to genealogy, some not):

• http://www.geni.com/company/terms_of_use (search for "Proprietary Rights in Content")
• http://www.genealogywiki.org/index.cfm/home/copyrightNotice
• http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Help:FAQ#Can_I_copyright_the_information_that_I_contribute_to_WeRelate.3F
• http://www.sinclairgenealogy.info/creative-commons
• http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Terms_of_use
• http://openlibrary.org/developers/licensing
• http://www.opencontentalliance.org/faq/#link3
• http://www.opencontentalliance.org/faq/#link4
• http://www.archive.org/about/faqs.php#Rights

Semantic Versioning

After having skimmed the semantic versioning proposal/spec, I really like it, and I'm going back for a deep read.

The most notable violator of this that has bit me in the past has been the jersey framework, and maybe earlier versions of commons-collections.

Flesh pots & Resistance to change

I was reading the account of Moses leading the Isrealites out of Egypt. After all of the miracles that accompanied the exodus comes the account of the net sum response of the Isrealites (Exodus 16:2-3):

2 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmered against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:

3 And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

I'm sure that my response to inspired leadership has sometimes sounded like this. And I'm very much willing to both admit that and abandon that position.

In stark contrast, is the message contained in Pres. Henry B. Eyring's conference talk, Trust in God, Then Go and Do. In particular, another scripture comes to mind (1 Nephi 3:7):

7 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.

Willingness to move forward and change and follow inspired leadership is a quality that I value, and that I seek to emulate & encourage.

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Developing Organization Change Skill

When I was trying to describe what it takes to do a good rollout of something new across a larger software development organization, I came up with a chant that made a lot of sense:

Here's the old

Here's the new

Here's the difference

Here's what you can do

Yesterday, I was faced with frustration that came from feeling incapable of doing the rollout tasks that were my lot. And I wanted other people to be capable of rolling new stuff across the development organization, too.

I asked myself:

How am I going to get other people to be capable of rolling new stuff out?

That is when the idea came.

So I think that a successful rollout formula is:

1. presenting all 4 things in sequence, and
2. making it easy for people who are affected by the rollout to take the next step

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