And for a lot more along the lines of what Ken is mentioning -- this post by Larry Garfield is a great intro to building reusable building blocks:<div><a href="http://www.palantir.net/blog/building-sustainable-building-blocks">http://www.palantir.net/blog/building-sustainable-building-blocks</a></div>
<div><br></div><div>--Kyle Mathews<br><br><a href="http://kyle.mathews2000.com/blog">kyle.mathews2000.com/blog</a><br><a href="http://twitter.com/kylemathews">http://twitter.com/kylemathews</a><br>
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 8:57 AM, Ken Rickard <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:agentrickard@gmail.com">agentrickard@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
In this case, I think the real trick for giving back is to try to<br>
avoid one-off custom solutions, and instead try (as best you can for<br>
each project) to patch or extend existing projects.<br>
<br>
That said, we have a 'custom' module installed by default on all new<br>
projects, and lots of one-off code invariably gets in there.<br>
<br>
But here's a concrete example: I got very tired of using the theme<br>
layer to code links to custom paths in Views. The result:<br>
<a href="http://drupal.org/node/349178" target="_blank">http://drupal.org/node/349178</a>, which went into the core Views module<br>
(and merlinofchaos spiced up with added layers of awesome).<br>
<br>
If one such patch comes out of each project (or, say, if you managed<br>
to close 2 issues in the core issue queue per project) then you're<br>
giving back. The key, for me, is not coding in a vacuum that ignores<br>
improvements to core and features in contrib.<br>
<br>
- Ken<br>
agentrickard<br>
<div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
On Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 10:09 AM, Robert Douglass<<a href="mailto:rob@robshouse.net">rob@robshouse.net</a>> wrote:<br>
> You lazy blood sucking pig! (did that confirm your worst fears? ;-)<br>
><br>
> I think you describe what is actually the _typical_ Drupal developer -<br>
> the vast majority of people doing Drupal development work just like you<br>
> describe, and there's nothing wrong with that. Not everyone is going to<br>
> be able to be a module maintainer, for one reason or another, and that's<br>
> fine.<br>
><br>
> If you want to release your code and hope that it takes a life of its<br>
> own, write blog posts about it, attach the zip file, and make sure it<br>
> gets aggregated by Drupal Planet. You can add lots of caveats like<br>
> "Needs cleaning up, needs install and uninstall routines, has some<br>
> specific settings that could use an admin settings page." Make sure it<br>
> is GNU 2.0 licensed from the start. In doing this you'll help others<br>
> while helping yourself. You'll help others by making the code available,<br>
> in case it's useful for them, and you'll help yourself by having useful<br>
> information and code on your development blog which will further your<br>
> reputation and bring you the next round of great clients. Plus you may<br>
> even get feedback that will lead to better code.<br>
><br>
> Thanks for sharing this concern. I wonder how many people on this list<br>
> feel guilty because they feel they "haven't contributed enough"?<br>
><br>
> -Robert<br>
><br>
> -----Original Message-----<br>
> From: Sam Polenta <<a href="mailto:sam.polenta@gmail.com">sam.polenta@gmail.com</a>><br>
> Reply-to: <a href="mailto:development@drupal.org">development@drupal.org</a><br>
> To: <a href="mailto:development@drupal.org">development@drupal.org</a><br>
> Subject: [development] Why I don't Upload a Module to Drupal<br>
> Date: Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:57:22 +0300<br>
><br>
> I have made a few custom modules for clients. Some of them maybe other<br>
> people would want. I would be happy to give them to whoever wants<br>
> them, BUT it's not necessarily so simple as that.<br>
><br>
> Mostly they have some customization for the particular site so I would<br>
> have to generalize them like with a settings page etc. Then I would<br>
> have to clean up the code a bit. Some would need an install and<br>
> uninstall routine which I didn't do because it's only for one site<br>
> anyway.<br>
><br>
> I would be happy even, in theory, to release them on <a href="http://drupal.org" target="_blank">drupal.org</a> but<br>
> aside from the time to prepare them, which I don't really have, I also<br>
> don't have time to support them. So I figure even if I did fix it up a<br>
> bit and put it online, I am then expected to support it. I am not a<br>
> lazy person nor do I just suck the blood of everyone else who<br>
> contributes to Drupal without giving back. I do try to help people on<br>
> the forums a bit and the truth is that I help to "make the world a<br>
> better place" in other ways. I volunteer at a local NPO to help<br>
> people--when I sit down at the computer, it's mostly to work. I need<br>
> to make a living and this is how I do it.<br>
><br>
> So I don't think I'm a total pig--not at all really because I do<br>
> volunteer my time, but just for other causes aside from Drupal.<br>
><br>
> Do people think my reasons are wrong for not releasing my code? I<br>
> guess the main thing is that I'm not prepared to support any issues or<br>
> requests etc. that may come up.<br>
><br>
> Thanks.<br>
><br>
><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</div></div><font color="#888888">--<br>
Ken Rickard<br>
<a href="mailto:agentrickard@gmail.com">agentrickard@gmail.com</a><br>
<a href="http://ken.therickards.com" target="_blank">http://ken.therickards.com</a><br>
</font></blockquote></div><br></div>