spaceInDevOpsEmail

spaceDevops

<h1 id="why-devops-is-devops-rather-than-dev-and-ops">why “DevOps” is “DevOps” rather than “”Dev” and “Ops””?</h1>

<h3 id="shouldnt-there-be-a-space-there-because-there-is-a-space-close-to-the-ground-near-the-grass-roots">shouldnt there be a space there. because there is a space close to the ground, near the grass-roots.</h3>

<p>So, no there is no space between “dev” and “ops”; that’s the whole point of DevOps. Development and operations working together in one bullpen to use <a href="http://xprogramming.com/what-is-extreme-programming">XP terminology</a>.</p>

<p>Myself I am all for it and in fact i don’t know any other way of doing development than by operation but hey… what does it even mean “development” and “operation” in the first place?</p>

<p>splitting the hair aside the fact is I’ve been developing for the web for a while now and I am involved in some form of development of commercial software since i was a teenager. In recent years I don’t hang out with hardcore programers as much as i used to  and that’s mostly because i took the idea of looking for the “end user” to heart maybe too much.</p>

<p>The idea was to “get out from the office”, find “end users” and engage them at the grass root level. not surprisingly this “grass root level” ended up being close to the grass. how do you combine this with the “cloud” and all the stuff one can do today just with google docks!</p>

<p>well there seems to be a lot of work ahead.</p>

<p>so here’s one of my “correspondence from the front line” series:</p>

<h3 id="contextual-info">contextual info:</h3>

<p>it all started during parents evening in a london primary school. i was given a survey to fill in. i asked whether they have something set up online. i offered that if i could get the document used to print the paper-pencil version i could help to set up a simple google form online so it is easier for them to do … well everything</p>

<p>the next day i received the document, </p>

<p>i spent 15 minutes filled with grumbling at word processors</p>

<p>end ended up with simpliest google form imaginable</p>

<p>i’ve sent the link as usually one would do </p>

<p>this is what followed:</p>

<h3 id="raf-to-sam">raf to sam:</h3>

<pre class="prettyprint prettyprinted" data-initialized="true" data-gclp-id="0"><code><span class="kwd">and</span><span class="pln"> back to you </span><span class="kwd">with</span><span class="pln"> completed form</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="pln"> i suggest trying it </span><span class="kwd">out</span><span class="pln"> yourself
before sending it </span><span class="kwd">out</span><span class="pln">

just </span><span class="kwd">out</span><span class="pln"> of curiosity</span><span class="pun">,</span><span class="pln"> what </span><span class="kwd">do</span><span class="pln"> you normally </span><span class="kwd">do</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="kwd">with</span><span class="pln"> these
responses </span><span class="kwd">in</span><span class="pln"> paper form</span><span class="pun">?</span><span class="pln"> what software </span><span class="kwd">do</span><span class="pln"> you </span><span class="kwd">use</span><span class="pln"> to analyse them </span><span class="kwd">or</span><span class="pln">
report further</span><span class="pun">?</span><span class="pln">

thanks </span><span class="kwd">let</span><span class="pln"> me know </span><span class="kwd">if</span><span class="pln"> you have more </span><span class="pun">:-)</span><span class="pln">

raf</span></code></pre>

<h3 id="sam-to-raf">sam to raf:</h3>

<pre class="prettyprint prettyprinted" data-initialized="true" data-gclp-id="1"><code><span class="typ">Hi</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="typ">Raf</span><span class="pun">,</span><span class="pln">

</span><span class="typ">Thanks</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="kwd">for</span><span class="pln"> completing the form</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="typ">Can</span><span class="pln"> you send it to me </span><span class="kwd">as</span><span class="pln"> an attachment </span><span class="pun">-</span><span class="pln"> I only </span><span class="kwd">use</span><span class="pln"> one email address</span><span class="pun">,</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="kwd">as</span><span class="pln"> it keeps things simple</span><span class="pun">,</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="kwd">and</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="kwd">as</span><span class="pln"> I don</span><span class="str">'t have a gmail account, I can'</span><span class="pln">t access your completed form via </span><span class="typ">Google</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="typ">Forms</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="typ">Many</span><span class="pln"> thanks</span><span class="pun">!</span><span class="pln">

</span><span class="typ">At</span><span class="pln"> the moment</span><span class="pun">,</span><span class="pln"> we have </span><span class="kwd">no</span><span class="pln"> standard way to process these things</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="typ">We</span><span class="str">'re trying to develop and improve the school'</span><span class="pln">s communication </span><span class="kwd">with</span><span class="pln"> parents</span><span class="pun">,</span><span class="pln"> particularly </span><span class="kwd">with</span><span class="pln"> regard to consulting on </span><span class="kwd">and</span><span class="pln"> explaining proposed changes to the school</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="typ">Perhaps</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="kwd">in</span><span class="pln"> the future </span><span class="kwd">as</span><span class="pln"> the approach to communication develops</span><span class="pun">,</span><span class="pln"> we</span><span class="str">'ll be able to look into automating these sorts of enquiries; however, it should be noted that wide accessibility is key and, unfortunately, not everyone has easy access to these sorts of facilities, so speaking directly to people is often the best means for soliciting feedback.

Thanks once again for your feedback.

Best wishes,</span></code></pre>

<h3 id="raf-to-sam-1">raf to sam:</h3>

<pre class="prettyprint prettyprinted" data-initialized="true" data-gclp-id="2"><code><span class="pln">hi there</span><span class="pun">,</span><span class="pln">

thanks </span><span class="kwd">for</span><span class="pln"> your email</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="pln"> I think we misunderstood each other </span><span class="pun">:-)</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="kwd">and</span><span class="pln"> i made a lot of assumptions along the way which </span><span class="kwd">not</span><span class="pln"> always were the correct ones </span><span class="pun">:-)</span><span class="pln"> that</span><span class="str">'s learning for me I guess and hey you are a school governor

i absolutely agree with your points and let me explain why I proposed doing this in the first place.

I'</span><span class="pln">m a digital producer </span><span class="kwd">and</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="kwd">as</span><span class="pln"> part of an </span><span class="str">"open source"</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="str">"free as in freedom"</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="kwd">and</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="str">"free as in free beer"</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="pun">(</span><span class="pln">you might need to google these </span><span class="kwd">as</span><span class="pln"> I am writing </span><span class="kwd">this</span><span class="pln"> on </span><span class="kwd">my</span><span class="pln"> phone so it</span><span class="str">'s a pain to look for links) co-op i am working with public organisations (like with data visualisation guys at rsa) to open up already existing channels of communication within public sector in terms these organisations communication with the public and within themselves.

I'</span><span class="pln">ve put your form on google docs because gmail </span><span class="kwd">is</span><span class="pln"> most widely used </span><span class="kwd">and</span><span class="pln"> I assumed you will be able to access it </span><span class="kwd">as</span><span class="pln"> an admin </span><span class="pun">(</span><span class="pln">there </span><span class="kwd">is</span><span class="pln"> a way of dealing </span><span class="kwd">with</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="kwd">this</span><span class="pln"> that will keep you </span><span class="kwd">out</span><span class="pln"> of mess that could be a result</span><span class="pun">)</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="kwd">and</span><span class="pln"> copy the link to the actual form to send it </span><span class="kwd">in</span><span class="pln"> an email to parents</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="pln"> so i am sorry to disappoint you but I haven</span><span class="str">'t really fill in your questionnaire :-) it was only a test of the functionality I built for you using google docks :-)

so here is what I was originally proposing in most basic terms (please don'</span><span class="pln">t </span><span class="kwd">get</span><span class="pln"> offended </span><span class="kwd">with</span><span class="pln"> the detail of the steps written below I just cannot assume any tech knowledge </span><span class="kwd">and</span><span class="pln"> expertise so will </span><span class="kwd">try</span><span class="pln"> to list every step</span><span class="pun">):</span><span class="pln">

</span><span class="pun">-</span><span class="pln"> a </span><span class="kwd">short</span><span class="pln"> email msg </span><span class="pun">(</span><span class="pln">one maximum two </span><span class="kwd">short</span><span class="pln"> sentences</span><span class="pun">!!!)</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="kwd">with</span><span class="pln">
</span><span class="pun">-</span><span class="pln"> a link to the form </span><span class="pun">(</span><span class="kwd">not</span><span class="pln"> the one I</span><span class="str">'ve sent you but the "client facing one") and
- a name
- this would go to all parents on your email list (you probably have something already or if not its maybe a good opportunity to start collecting these emails)
-regardless whether they have a gmail acc or not
- most of them have smartphones and already uses email via phone equipped in a web browser
- they click on the link in the email
- and see survey in the web browser (regardless of the OS)
- they fill in the form on the website
- submit it
- and since its all anonymised the data is automatically published so they can can access the results if the wish.
- all answers are stored in one spreadsheet
- which you can use in any way you wish
- you can download it as text file (be it .csv .json .xml or whatever you need) and use it in any software you use (this is why my question in the original email)
- google will make it all nice and shiny for you to some extent (see here)
- and it doesn'</span><span class="pln">t own your data </span><span class="pun">(!!!)</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="kwd">and</span><span class="pln">
</span><span class="pun">-</span><span class="pln"> there aren</span><span class="str">'t any hooks nor small print ( I come from a community where this is treated very seriously and guys from google are part of this community they know there is no point in messing with this standard as even now when google owns the world there is a whole "deep net" where no one needs google and if they go agains their own "don'</span><span class="pln">t be evil</span><span class="str">" principle we will just move our operations there)

I hope you see where I am going with this. if you need more info, check out "</span><span class="pln">open government</span><span class="str">" on uk gov website. there is a team who are doing the same thing on governmental scale :-) and they provide a lot of info

but in more practical terms one of my partners is in touch with developer working on schools new website. she will be preparing training material for the school and for the end user so i will feedback to her whatever we would do together with this survey so it is in a way streamlined with the "</span><span class="pln">system</span><span class="str">"

or you might consider yourself "</span><span class="pln">a test</span><span class="str">" :-) or the very first user of the new school website even though it doesn't yet exist ;-) ha we beat them to it :-))

ill send you the email how it would look like for a parent and which you could forward to your personal address, open it on your phone and try how it works for a client.

I will then send you graphs and charts that google automatically generated and which you would have to do anyway if you want the results to be meaningful (why would you make a survey in the first place kind of thing)

does this all make sense to you?

raf</span></code></pre>

<h3 id="and-now-for-something-completely-different-or-whats-the-point">“<a href="http://blip.tv/moviearchives/monty-python-and-now-for-something-completely-different-5465071">And Now for Something Completely Different</a>” or “what’s the point”</h3>

<p>i know i totally geeked out on poor guy but my point is this, </p>

<p>ability for seting up a mental infrastructure necessery for him to be able to access tools that will put him in a position to thrive with the technology around him.  <br>
is beyond his reach. </p>

<p>it requires team work and it is very difficult to achive cohesion within teams and often there are no leaders and no teams to speak of in terms of organisations’ strategy etc</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>written by <a href="https://github.com/rafszul">rafszul</a> + <a href="http://wearetheplaymakers.com/">weAreThePlayMakers</a> with <a href="https://stackedit.io/">StackEdit</a></p>
</blockquote>