May the true owner of buildbot.python.org <http://buildbot.python.org>
stand up!
Well, I think that's me (atleast by my definition of "true owner").
I requested that the machine be set up, and I deployed the software
that is running the service (it was also me who originally introduced
buildbot to the Python project).
On the other hand, I'm not at all "in charge" of that infrastructure
piece. I haven't logged into the machine in many months, and it's
Antoine who currently maintains its configuration. So I don't want to
be pinged when the machine is down.
(But I do think there may well not be anyone who feels they own it. And
that's a problem for its long term viability.)
I don't think that's actually the case for "ownership". But then, I also
think that ownership is not a very important concept for pydotorg. Most
owners will likely agree that they lose their right to have a say in it
when they stop maintaining the piece that they own.
Generally speaking, as an organization we should set up a process for
managing ownership of *all* infrastructure in a uniform way. I don't
mean to say that we need to manage all infrastructure uniformly, just
that we need to have a process for identifying and contacting the
owner(s) for each piece of infrastructure, as well as collecting other
information that people besides the owners might need to know. You can
use a wiki page for that list for all I care, but have a process for
what belongs there, how/when to update it, and even an owner for the
wiki page!
Unfortunately, that plan keeps failing. Everybody agrees that such a
list would be useful, so everybody makes their own list. I was
maintaining such a list in the Python wiki for some time, until a
board member decided that a publically-visible inventory is not
appropriate, and it must be a password-protected wiki - where I now
keep forgetting where the wiki is, in the first place, let alone
remembering how to log in.
Regards,
Martin