Proposal: Create connections between Performance Team and Hosts
This post offers a proposal to create a private slack channel (#performance-hosting) where members of both the Performance Team and relevant representatives from hosting companies can come together to share information impacting the performance of sites, test relevant PRs, and have a quick feedback loop for any performance regressions in new releases. This builds on the current private #security-hosting channel that’s already in place and has proven to be an area of collaboration.
Background
In talking to folks last week at WCUS alongside @harishanker, it became clear that in some cases hosting companies would benefit from a more curated and focused space for contribution that aligns with areas where they can make the biggest impact. In talking with folks, the following areas came to mind: performance, infrastructure, support, and security. This was a repeated topic in all conversations and, in these conversations, the #security-hosting channel came up as an already functional pathway.
Format
Create a new private slack channel for #performance-hosting that includes members from the Performance team for monitoring and engagement alongside relevant members from hosting companies. This is private in order to allow for more sharing and it’s centered around performance in order to provide a curated path for contribution, bringing in folks from the Performance team to engage directly.
What will this group work on?
Below are some of the ideas that were shared in the conversations. See these are starting ideas and not entirely encompassing:
- Share anonymized data around plugins that are impacting sites the most in order to do outreach to them with performance suggestions, see what we can learn from them to improve Core, and update the plugin checker for anything that might be missing to help future contributors.
- Share common user configuration to provide better tests for real world performance situations, rather than solely relying on lab metrics.
- Test performance PRs early.
- Create a tight feedback loop after releases for any performance degradations.
Why performance?
It’s clear there are a specific areas that hosts are best equipped to make the biggest impact and contribution, including performance. At the same time, the Performance team is a strong team with a clear roadmap, sponsored contributors, and a dedicated space already. In my time in the FSE Outreach Program, I found out how critical it is to create a space that’s managed, maintained, and specific. This checked all the boxes and I anticipate there will be more areas that will, like Support.
Why a private channel?
In talking to folks, a private channel came up as a safer space to share information. I am not personally opposed to a public channel but I want to recognize the reality that for folks in the hosting space, it felt advantageous to have private.
What do you all think? Please share by October 9th, 2024.
Please share your thoughts below. While there was an appetite for this idea when talking to folks in person, I want to know what blockers there might be and whether there are reasons not to pursue this, especially from the Performance team who will be impacted by this.
The only concern I have about it being a private Slack channel is how folks opt-in to joining the channel or the channel gains visibility when itu2019s not a thing you can search for (speaking both selfishly and to the need to document a process). And then, the converse is true, too u2014 if a member is _no longer_ associated with a host, what are the risks/cleanup processes involved in if those users still being a member of the private channel? I assume that thereu2019d be no proactive vetting process for kicking folks that have moved onto other teams/employers, so whatu2019s the worst case scenario for those folks remaining in the channel (and how does this compare with it being just public in the first place)?
n","permalink":"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2024/09/23/proposal-create-connections-between-performance-team-and-hosts/#comment-47172","unixtime":1727111882,"loginRedirectURL":"https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fmake.wordpress.org%2Fcore%2F2024%2F09%2F23%2Fproposal-create-connections-between-performance-team-and-hosts%2F%23comment-47172&locale=en_US","approved":true,"isTrashed":false,"prevDeleted":"","editURL":null,"depth":1,"commentDropdownActions":"","commentFooterActions":"","commentTrashedActions":"","mentions":[],"mentionContext":"","commentCreated":"1727111882","hasChildren":false,"userLogin":"jazzs3quence","userNicename":"jazzs3quence"},{"type":"comment","id":"47173","postID":"115515","postTitleRaw":"Proposal: Create connections between Performance Team and Hosts","cssClasses":"comment byuser comment-author-jorbin even thread-even depth-1","parentID":"0","contentRaw":"I think there needs to be a very high bar for private channels. Security has a private channel with hosts since it would harm the community for that information to be shared in public. What is the harm of releasing the information that is being shared in this proposed channel? nnAs is always the case when the topic of private channels comes up, I turn to what Karl Fogel wrote in "Producing Open Source Software":nMaking important decisions in private is like spraying contributor repellant on your project. No serious contributor would stick around for long in an environment where a secret council makes all the big decisions behind closed doors.","contentFiltered":"
I think there needs to be a very high bar for private channels. Security has a private channel with hosts since it would harm the community for that information to be shared in public. What is the harm of releasing the information that is being shared in this proposed channel?
As is always the case when the topic of private channels comes up, I turn to what Karl Fogel wrote in u201cProducing Open Source Softwareu201c:n
nn","permalink":"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2024/09/23/proposal-create-connections-between-performance-team-and-hosts/#comment-47173","unixtime":1727113983,"loginRedirectURL":"https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fmake.wordpress.org%2Fcore%2F2024%2F09%2F23%2Fproposal-create-connections-between-performance-team-and-hosts%2F%23comment-47173&locale=en_US","approved":true,"isTrashed":false,"prevDeleted":"","editURL":null,"depth":1,"commentDropdownActions":"","commentFooterActions":"","commentTrashedActions":"","mentions":[],"mentionContext":"","commentCreated":"1727113983","hasChildren":false,"userLogin":"jorbin","userNicename":"jorbin"},{"type":"comment","id":"47176","postID":"115515","postTitleRaw":"Proposal: Create connections between Performance Team and Hosts","cssClasses":"comment byuser comment-author-peterwilsoncc odd alt thread-odd thread-alt depth-1","parentID":"0","contentRaw":"I agree it would be beneficial to the project for the performance team to work with hosts in a dedicated channel.nnI share concerns about making it private rather than public for the reasons Chris and Aaron have covered above.","contentFiltered":"Making important decisions in private is like spraying contributor repellant on your project. No serious contributor would stick around for long in an environment where a secret council makes all the big decisions behind closed doors.
I agree it would be beneficial to the project for the performance team to work with hosts in a dedicated channel.
nI share concerns about making it private rather than public for the reasons Chris and Aaron have covered above.
