RHEL patching support: same-day customer-facing document with explicit Ubuntu carve-out
Situation
Peter wrote and shared a Google Doc same-day (within 32 minutes of the Leadership Roundtable action item) outlining CIQ Engineerings agreed scope for supporting RHEL patching. Sent to Bjorn and Ramesh for review with the intention of forwarding to Art for customer-facing use (lead-gen + knowledge-transfer). The doc explicitly does NOT cover Ubuntu — Peter made the Ubuntu carve-out explicit in the DM thread when Ramesh raised Canonicals different model.
Reasoning
Document IS the boundary. A spoken agreement at the LRT about RHEL patching scope does not survive contact with customers — a written doc with explicit in-scope and out-of-scope sections is the artifact that defends the line when Arts customers push for more. The Ubuntu carve-out is deliberate and structural: writing thats explicitly doesnt cover means later expansion to Ubuntu becomes a NEW decision, not silent scope-creep. Same lesson family as the 5/8 LGU+ rejection (refuse open-ended RHEL/OEL support, best effort only). Same-day 32-minute turnaround signals Peter had been holding this scope-clarity in his head for a while — the LRT action item was the permission to commit it to writing, not the moment of figuring it out. Engineering-owns-docs-content doctrine codified yesterday is being practiced today: Peter drafts the engineering content directly, Art gets the customer-packaging side. Let me know if Ive got anything wrong is open-door review, not consensus — silence means proceed.
Additional Context
Triggered by the 3:00 PM Leadership Roundtable action item. Doc circulated by 3:32 PM to Bjorn + Ramesh, followed by explicit Ubuntu carve-out at 3:53 PM in response to Rameshs question. Reinforces both the scope-discipline pattern and the engineering-owns-docs doctrine from yesterdays reflection.
Observed Evidence
32-minute turnaround from LRT action item to Doc circulation. Explicit Ubuntu carve-out written into the doc and reinforced in the DM. Forward-to-Art clause makes the doc customer-facing without requiring further sign-off rounds.
Matching Patterns
Confidence Breakdown
Reasoning Depth Analysis
People Involved
Source
reflection
AI Confidence
82%
Related Context
slack
Sent you both a google doc that I think outlines what we agreed regarding CIQ Eng support for patching RHEL systems. Let me know if you think Ive got anything wrong. If I dont Ill forward it off to Art
slack
As for ubuntu @Ramesh this doc very explicitly doesnt cover. Should you want us to support Ubuntu for some customer in future, thatd be a whole different conversation.
fathom
Peter: Create customer-facing document defining Red Hat patching support. Rationale: Supports lead generation (LG) and knowledge transfer (KT).
Outcome
No outcome recorded yet.
Decision ID: 7a17a2bd-9a46-49a1-9655-14e9fcee7d57