Thoughts on being sage release manager

In no particular order:

• Having two release managers is very beneficial. Craig and I chatted for most of yesterday, getting help with all the little problems along the way. What’s even better is that you can constantly vent your frustrations as you learn an awful lot about a process you probably don’t care much about.
• The sage release process isn’t exactly smooth — but it’s not awful either. I feel it’s like the IRS 1040 form: you dread doing it, but it’s not actually that awful, and at the end you can’t think of obvious ways to expedite the process. (Actually, I submit the 1040NR-EZ form.) The sage build scripts just work, at least most of the time.
• Bitrotten patches are really deflating. When it comes time to try to merge and close a ticket, a patch that doesn’t apply — even for the most trivial of reasons — is a real kick in the teeth for the release manager. Every patch that doesn’t merge cleanly forces you to make a decision: fix it yourself or punt. The right answer is punt, but it never feels right.
• The trac server and the list are fine for high level coordination, but IRC is superior for actually doing stuff, and talking to Craig on the phone beat both.