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Becoming a CRT Advocate

When someone of sufficient experience becomes interested in joining the CRT (whether of his/her own accord, the suggestion of an existing CRT advocate, or as a tech lead of some sort), s/he should be nominated by an existing CRT member (in the above examples, that member would be, respectively, someone whom the engineer in question picks, the existing advocate him/herself, and the CRT chair on behalf of the PAC). The CRT will then discuss the nomination. The chair will judge the consensus of that discussion and in the event of positive consensus, add the nominee to the CRT. In the event of negative consensus, the chair will inform the nominee of the reason(s), along with suggestions for improvement. The CRT Chair is appointed by the Marketing Release C-Team.
What attributes are expected of a good advocate?
Thoroughness, attention to detail, deep technical knowledge of at least one sub-system, broad knowledge of how the various sub-systems interact, an understanding of the process, awareness of the goals and needs of other parts of Solaris and Solaris as a whole, and the patience to work with junior engineers who have not yet learned all of these skills.
Do I have to be a Sun employee?
For now, yes. It is our intention to loosen this restriction over time as we migrate from Open Source with partially open development to Open Source will fully Open Development.
What responsibilities do advocates have?
In short, the timely review of RTIs: placing them on hold (with reasons) when they are not ready, accepting them when they are ready, and when appropriate, reassigning to a different advocate with more expertise. Note that a much longer and more complete answer is provided in the charter.
Whom should I pick to nominate me?
Whomever on the CRT you know best and best knows you and your work, and can provide a strong, positive reference.
What if nobody on the CRT will nominate me?
Ask them why. Possible reasons include lack of experience, sufficient coverage in your area(s) of expertise, bad judgement, and bad inter-personal skills. Note that for the latter two, people are often uncomfortable telling a person with one (or both) of those faults, so they may offer a different reason.
How long would I have to serve?
However long you remain interested and qualified. On a periodic basis (generally annually), the chair will ping all members to make sure they are still interested, qualified, and that their listed areas of expertise are up-to-date. As people occasionally move on, it is expected that they will occasionally acknowledge focus on a different space and step down of their own accord as needed. Should flagrant abuse and/or incompetence arise, the chair will investigate in conjunction with the current release staff, and possibly others as needed, and a decision will be made on a case-by-case basis.