= Session=
* Track: People and Processes
* Topic: The gradation of participation - what is a third party?
=Description=
There persists confusion on what is a third-party and what does it mean to support them. Let's discuss how we define both "third-party" and "support" to help us better understand expectations from all perspectives and stakeholders. We might not come up with a solid agreed definition, but perhaps we can share a more nuanced understanding of who is participating and how to make more informed decisions across the technical community (Particular emphasis on Product and Tech functions of the foundation).
=Questions to answer and discuss=
**Question:** How do we define third-party?
**Significance:** There is a broad spectrum of participation in the Wikimedia/MediaWiki community. At what point do we define someone as a third party? Is someone who writes a user script a developer? What about someone who writes a MediaWiki extension? What if they are using VisualEditor on a non-Wikimedia wiki? What if they contribute user testing and bug reports? Who are the audiences we wish to engage with?
**Question:** How do we define support?
**Significance:** Once we have identified what audience (or audiences) exist as third party, can we define an expectation of support – for questions related to use, code review, documentation, decision making related to interoperability, etc.
= Related Issues =
* ...
* ...
=Pre-reading for all Participants=
* https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Third-party_MediaWiki_users_discussion
* https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki_Stakeholders%27_Group
* https://mwstake.org/mwstake/wiki/MediaWiki_Usage_Report_2015
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=Notes document(s)=
[link to notes document (gdoc and / or etherpad)]
=Notes and Facilitation guidance=
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Technical_Conference/2019/NotesandFacilitation
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=Session Leader(s)=
* Chris Koerner
* [name]
=Session Scribes=
* [name]
* [name]
=Session Facilitator=
* [name]
=Session Style / Format=
* Workshop
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**Session Leaders** please:
[x] Add more details to this task description.
[] Coordinate any pre-event discussions (here on Phab, IRC, email, hangout, etc).
[x] Outline the plan for discussing this topic at the event.
[] Optionally, include what this session will //not// try to solve.
[] Update this task with summaries of any pre-event discussions.
[] Include ways for people not attending to be involved in discussions before the event and afterwards.
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Post-event summary:
* ...
Post-event action items:
* ...