Contributors Meetup Async Update - March 2nd - March 15th , 2024

Working Groups Core Contributors
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Core Contributor Update: March 2nd - March 15th , 2024

Use the jump links below to view the section that interests you:

  1. Working Groups Updates
  2. Events
  3. Projects
  4. Next async update and meetup

1. Working Groups Updates

Working Groups Calendar

1.1. BTR Working Group

Chair: @jalondonot

:paperclip: Latest news

Blockers or Calls/offers for help

:memo: Meeting notes

1.2. Contributor Coordination Working Group

Chair: Jorge Londoño

:paperclip: Latest news

  • The team addressed the impact of recent layoffs and reorganization on the project’s maintenance, including the increase in the “elephant factor” and the need for adjustments to facilitate broader participation. The team also considered a proposal from Axim to improve the current open edX release process, including the idea of assigning maintainers the responsibility of fixing bugs reported by the BTR after the testing process is completed. The team also discussed the importance of maintaining a bug-free repository and the responsibilities of the repository maintainer. The team also discussed the introduction of a management tool to prevent micromanagement and foster goal-setting discussions.
  • Next steps
    • Sarina and Adolfo will discuss and align the expectations for maintainers in the new strategy.
    • Omar will consider contributing to BTR QA and may coordinate with the testing manager.
    • Jorge will write a brief post explaining the OKR framework and providing examples that could work for the community.

:memo: Meeting notes

:pushpin: Relevant links

1.3. Data Working Group

Chair: @e0d & @blarghmatey

:paperclip: Latest news

  • Aspects V1 Product Requirement Document in progress: Aspects V1: Product Requirements
  • Event bus updates: Brian Mesick is going to do some work on prototyping a Tutor plugin that will let people easily configure and run the Kafka or redis backends, test changes, and experiment with the event bus. Looking for feedback on the direction and desire for such a tool.

:memo: Meeting notes

1.4. DEPR Working Group

Chair: @feanil

:paperclip: Latest news

  • Diana:
  • Don’t think we managed to talk about CourseGraph before
    • Who uses it besides 2U? I can file a DEPR, but I just wanted to get a sense before I did anything here
    • MIT pushes course data into a separate data store
    • This would allow us to drop a dependency on Neo4J from edx-platform
    • We can try filing a DEPR to see what happens
  • Overlap with Maintenance Working Group
    • How do we want to split duties/areas of focus?
    • Should we be doing things that they’re doing right now? Are there things we’re doing that they should be doing?
  • Tubular deprecation
    • The new plan is to remove the old retirement code from the tubular repo before deprecating/archiving it.
    • 2U is in the process of moving over, but it might be worth noting for other groups who use these retirement scripts
  • Robert: What kind of process can we put into place in order to inform the community about things that are moved into ‘Done’ so that final org-specific cleanup can happen?
    • ex: bok-choy and 2U
      • Diana to pick up this action item to do the search on the edx org

:memo: Meeting notes

1.5. DevEx Working Group

Chair: @Rebecca_S_Graber & @kmccormick

:arrow_down: Past meeting notes 2023-12-04 DevEx Meetup Notes

:memo: Meeting notes

1.6. DevOps Working Group

Chair: RĂ©gis Behmo

:paperclip: Latest news

Announcement: The DevX Working Group is dissolved! :boom:

Announcement: Join the Tutor Users’ Group :handshake:

  • It’s become clear that there is an acute need to support new Tutor users and plugin developers. It’s also clear that Tutor maintainers benefit from hearing feedback from people who are using the tool.
    So, Kyle will host one-hour users’ group every other week for sharing help, tips, and feedback on using Tutor and developing Tutor plugins. Bring your questions, and get ready for some live debugging! Expert or newbie, all are welcome.

:memo: Meeting notes

1.7. Educators Working Group

Chair: @john_curricume

:arrow_down: Past meeting notes 2024-02-12 Educator WG

:arrow_right: Next meeting Monday, March 18, 2024 Meeting Registration - Zoom

:memo: Meeting notes

Blockers or Calls/offers for help

  • Looking for any and all documentors!

1.8. Frontend Working Group

Chair: @arbrandes

:arrow_down: Past meeting notes 2024-02-15 Frontend Working Group Meeting Notes

  • In summary, the meeting detailed the ongoing efforts to improve the frontend architecture of the learner portal through the migration to React Router and React Query, focusing on enhancing data fetching efficiency, reducing loading times, and improving overall performance. The discussions highlighted the technical strategies, challenges, and potential benefits of this migration, along with considerations for documentation and broader applicability across different frontend applications.

:memo: Meeting notes

1.9. Large Instances Working Group

Chair: @braden & @Felipe

  • Updates from each org on the call - 2U, Edunext, OpenCraft, Raccoon Gang
  • OpenCraft:
    • No new updates. The Open PRs by @GĂĄbor Boros are still waiting for engineering review. Jhony Avella already approved a couple of them.
  • Raccoon Gang:
    • Max is experiencing problems with Kubernetes 1.28 and node selectors. Labels are not assigned on time in AWS to schedule workloads in specific node groups. Using Bottlerocket images fixes the problem. The issue is still being investigated.
  • Edunext:
    • interested in Meilisearch. @Jhony Avella is reviewing a PR. @MoisĂ©s GonzĂĄlez has been nominated as a maintainer of the codejail repositories.
  • Harmony project updates
    • The PR to support Quince / Tutor > 17 is in progress, got some activity this morning.
  • Meilisearch Discussion:
    • Meilisearch is looking like a more compelling replacement for ElasticSearch than OpenSearch. But there are some pros and cons. The big con is that it has no high availability mode. eduNEXT is offering to test the WIP tutor plugin and reindex command, by pushing them to their limit with huge amounts of courses and search requests. This will help us learn more about its stability and operational characteristics.

:memo: Meeting notes

1.10. Marketing Working Group

Chair: Eden Huthmacher

:arrow_down: Past meeting notes 2024-02-21 MWG Meeting Notes:

:memo: Meeting notes

1.11. Maintainers

Chair: Feanil

:arrow_down: Past meeting notes 2023-09-07 Maintainers’ Meeting notes:

  • Mongo 7 Upgrades:
  • Python 3.12:
    • Tooling to Detect Python Version?
    • Repo health dashboard might be able to get this from classifiers.
    • 3.12 Update is now the highest priority maintenance item for Redwood, please prioritize it over other maintenance work.
  • Paragon Maintainer:
    • Currently no maintainer listed.
    • Joint maintainership between Axim and Opencraft probably makes the most sense.
  • Redwood Cut
    • Did this move? Is it still April or May?
      • Neither, we’ll do the cut Apri 23(ish) unless we push it further when we get closer

:memo: Meeting notes

1.12. Product Working Group

Chair: Jenna Makowski

  • UX/UI Working Group
    • Jenna would like to be involved in the user testing for the HMX Custom Pathways project that Cassie Zamparini is running
    • We discussed the best approach for the community Figma account. We decided it makes sense for Axim to be the account owner, but there are a number of considerations to take into account:
      • Axim would need to pay for / maintain any editor licenses
      • Hosting the edX and Open edX themes of the Paragon Design Library on different Figma accounts
      • Sharing and syncing of libraries across different accounts (is it possible?)
      • Required permissions for library use (can anyone invited as a viewer —even outside of the org— view but not use a library)?
      • Investigate “branching” in Figma
      • A separate meeting will be set up between Axim and 2U to determine the best way forward
    • Ali Hugo ran the group through a prototype of the latest designs for the Studio Search project (part of the Content Tagging initiative). Some feedback from the group:
      • We discussed whether the “text”, “video”, and “problem” filters were sufficient to cover the various component types. We decided they were for now, as they account for 86% of the block types
      • We may need to add a dedicated search page (like in Confluence) if search requirements become more advanced and / or if we need to account for ‘find and replace’ / ‘bulk replace’ functionality in the future
      • Confluence and Google Drive use a combined ‘active filter / dropdown selection’ element for their search filters. Investigate whether this is a more user-friendly approach than the separate filter and chips that are currently used in the design
    • We discussed an implementation issue that came up whilst building the ability to add internal links to course sections (see proposal)
      • Santiago on Slack: “During the implementation of the functionality to insert links to internal sections of the course graphically (Jump To), some unexpected changes arose. Initially, the proposed solution, which had product approval, was this which connected Jump To with URL insertion. However, during development, we realized that TinyMCE already offered the option to insert URLs. Therefore, we have decided to retain this native option and separate our Jump To plugin. We propose that the plugin be as shown in the attached images where the user selects a text and can insert a link to an internal section of the course. If the user does not select the text, a message appears indicating that they must do so.”
      • We discussed what the process should be for getting product approval on updates made post-approval. We decided that the situation should be described on the UX/UI Working Group Slack Channel, and that a simple :thumbsup: or objection would be enough to approve/object to the updated proposal
  • LTI/Learning Tool WG Meeting
    • Santiago Suarez:
      • Scott Dunn can connect you with Caesar on the engineering work that Pearson has done
      • Fox Piacenti, Giovanni Cimolin da Silva, Piotr Surowiec connect on the engineering work that Opencraft has completed
      • Hopefully we can identify where the gaps are with the existing engineering work and what needs to be completed in order to realize the UX/UI work that EduNext is doing currently
      • I updated Scott and Zach about what I’d seen of the Edunext work so far and let them know that Santiago would connect with the respective engineering folks to identify where further work is needed to reach out goals
    • Anna Aldric: will connect Scott with Turnitin/1Edtech folk that are working on LTI features that may become available.
    • Scott Dunn: We can consider LTI provider work for the next phase of this WG, after course authoring, if there is community interest.

:memo: Meeting notes

1.13. Security Working Group

Chair: Feanil Patel

:arrow_down: Past meeting notes 2023-07-26 Security WG Meeting

:memo: Meeting notes

1.14. TOC

Chair: Ed Zarecor

  • The TOC members discussed the development of privacy-preserving educational research platforms, with a potential project partnership and funding for Open edX. They also shared updates on Open edX adoption and community involvement, and strategies to improve the long-term sustainability and extensibility of the platform. The board members discussed challenges and strategies for maintaining open-source repositories, including identifying which repositories to maintain and which to deprecate, the need for maintainers, and the impact of breaking changes in non-maintained repositories. They emphasized the importance of transparency and fairness for maintainers in open-source projects.
  • Action Items:
    • Xavier to check if Otter has a setting to warn participants about recording/transcription prior to the meeting
    • Axim to send a proposal for transitioning 2U developers to core contributors rather than direct commit access, as well as reviewing 2U roles, access and permissions.
    • RĂ©gis to open a discussion on the forum about open course material, and share the link with the TOC mailing list.
    • RĂ©gis to investigate the state of Open edX extensibility and propose improvements to existing mechanisms, leveraging the work of other contributors
    • George to share the list of repositories 2U will maintain with Feanil and the maintenance working group once it is approved internally

:memo: Meeting notes

1.15. Translation Working Group

Chair: Eden Huthmacher

  • Review language performances - performance went down due to the transition from edx-platform to openedx-translations project - machine translations have been activated for all languages, except for Portuguese (Portugal).
  • Update on transition from edx-platform to openedx-translations project - transfer 133 languages and make edx-platform read-only.
  • Updated enhancements as part of OEP-58.
  • GH Board review

:memo: Meeting notes

2. Events

  • We are excited to announce the 2024 Open edX conference! The conference will be held at Stellenbosch University in Cape Town, South Africa and will take place between July 2nd and July 5th, 2024. Register here to secure your seat!
  • Would anyone like to highlight any past or upcoming events? Let us know in the comments!

3. Projects

Are there any new or ongoing projects you’d like to discuss? Get the conversation started in the comments below.

4. Next async update and meetup

  • Tuesday March 19th - Join the meetup here!
  • Friday March 29th - Async update
  • Details and draft agenda on Confluence

:speech_balloon: Anything to add?

If there’s anything else you’d like to mention, please let us know in the comments below.

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Core Contributor Check-in: Mar 2nd - 15th , 2024

:stopwatch: Core Contributor Hours

Before I get to it, we need your help.

All CC’s would have received an email with the subject line: What do you REALLY think about the Core Contributor experience? It would really help us, help you, if you schedule some time to fill it in :wink: Thanks to those that already have!

Gif|50%

Okay, let’s dive into the last sprint:

There was a total of 457 hours of contributions reported, which is about 10 hours more than the previous sprint of 447 hours.

productive
productive1430×656 34 KB

The overall checklist response rate was 45% for this sprint, which is a 2% decrease from last sprint.

response rate
response rate1318×504 29.3 KB

:notebook_with_decorative_cover: Summary of Responses

1. Do you need any help? Or is there anything you’d like to collaborate on?

@ali_hugo

  • Is calling all Core Contributor to answer the survey received via email (subject line: What do you REALLY think about the Core Contributor experience?) Thanks to those of you who have already completed it!

@chintan

  • Would like help understanding the different group processes, but knows this is already a work in progress

2. What should we improve? Are there any blockers?

None

3. What did you accomplish this sprint?

@Cassie

  • Joined my first Redwood Release WG
  • Completed the Core Contributor Check-in Report and Post
  • Worked on the Marketing Learning Technologies Stand
  • Created the Open edX Conference Social Media Post Templates
  • Reviewed the Product Review Process

@ali_hugo

@pdpinch

@Felipe

  • Joined meetings: Redwood Release Planning, Maintenance, Large Instances
  • Reviewed Studio Home PRs
  • Worked on team alignment for Aspects v1
  • Nominated Mafer and myself for Maintenance and CC roles of the Woocommerce plugin

@xitij2000

  • Reviewed PRs

@Zia.Fazal

  • Addressed reviewer feedback on my PR
  • Reviewed PR in scorm xblock
  • Reviewed PR in AI coach xblock

@jill

@mafermazu

  • Continued improving the openedx-wordpress-ecommerce plugin
  • Reviewed some PRs

@abstract-technology

  • Worked on a Wiki page entry
  • Worked on conference planning
  • Worked on marketing tasks
  • Worked with other providers to prepare the talk Efficient Project Kickstart: Streamlining Open edX Environment Setup with Configuration Templates

@john_curricume

  • Planned for April Session around Libraries Create Documentation working plan

@chintan

  • Raised two new PRs
  • Raised two new issues, and was able to get a solution for one of them from frontend community
  • Attended more meetings compared to last sprint

4. What do you plan to work on in the upcoming sprint?

@pdpinch

@Cassie

  • Finalizing the Marketing Learning Technologies Stand
  • Reviewing the Conference website and making UI suggestions

@jill

@chintan

  • Maintenance, forum moderating, and meetings

5. What went well this sprint?

@chintan

  • Got support from community members
  • Quicker response rates compared to usual on my PR

@ali_hugo

  • Finding the process for performing product reviews slowly less confusing
  • 20% of Core Contributors completed the CC survey

@jill

  • Aspects is a delight to work on!

@Zia.Fazal

  • Learnt few things like: why not to expose django users in xblocks, and what to do while updating xblocks to python 3.12

@pdpinch

  • Coordination on Redwood release continues to be useful

:speech_balloon: Questions or comments?

Please add any questions or comments you might have below. We’d love to hear from you!

And if you’d like to take a peek at the full report, see it on Listaflow .

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@chintan What would you like to know precisely about the different working groups processes?

I’m not sure what you refer to as work in progress, but each working group should have a wiki page at https://openedx.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/COMM/pages/3707371565/Active+Working+Groups describing how it works, at least roughly – is that what you mentioned? If that’s what you would like to see improved, a way to approach it would be to ask your questions directly on the working group page for which you have some - for example by pinging its chair in the page comments. Then you can update the page with the answer, this way the next person will have the information there. :slight_smile:

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Thanks @antoviaque

It was more of a internal reflection thing, to get more help in understanding process of different working groups.

And “in progress” was also more on my part that I have slowly started to join more meetings and have started to learn more about how each group is working. And what it’s functions are etc.

But the link you gave is perfect as it allows me to quickly refer as to which group is doing what and whom I can trouble in case of any queries.

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