On Monday 28 August 2006 06:55, Konstantin Käfer wrote:
Hi,
you are asking a good question: upgrade an existing module or write a new module from scratch. The latter is the easier way.
But imho, it's not the way you should go. There are plenty of good reasons to upgrade acidfree module (using the same name or choosing a new one doesn't matter here. We talk about "compatibility", not about naming issues).
1. There are really plenty of acidfree users out there who would not like to see the module they use extensively being abandoned. If users find lots of modules being abandoned after one or two release cycles, they may get frustrated very quickly and leave Drupal. Of course, Drupal is a kind of DIY, but without all the John Does, there would not be such a large community.
I must not have said it clearly. I don't want to abandon my users. I would certainly provide an upgrade path for whatever option I do. I guess the real question is are users going to care if they get switched over to a different backend. You know, it's like your bank selling your mortgage loan to a different lender. Does it really affect you? Do you really care? Well, it in the long run, not really, but still it is a bit disconcerting that it can happen at all. I don't want all the users who are so happy to have Acidfree get mad at me. But I guess if they really can't tell, it shouldn't matter.
2. There are already a lot of modules who deal with media in whatever way. We actually don't need yet another module, but a module that has a really strong featureset while being actively supported and maintained.
The reason I would want to just upgrade acidfree in a future version is because I don't want to have another deadbeat module laying around. But I want to make sure it is done right. I see a lot of duplicated work between Acidfree and other modules and I think I have a plan to make most of it okay. I guess we will see in a while if I can actually figure out how to implement all this. :)
My opinion is that I should release a 4.8 version of Acidfree that defines 0 node types and simply works with the appropriate node types to offer a unified management interface.
You could solve this issue either by providing an acidfree_legacy.module that defines the content types you have so far defined in acidfree.module or provide a kind of update script (hook_update_N()) that creates new simple node types which replace the 4.7 node types.
Yes, there will certainly be an upgrade path. --Vernon
I remember a while back that the fact that Drupal does not really have a unified way of dealing with multimedia was a big deal. Are people still interested in this? Or should I just crawl back in my cave and continue plugging away at Acidfree?
Definitely not. There are lots of people interested in media management. Just ask some of the Lullabots and the "troubles" and workarounds they needed for putting out mtv.co.uk.
You might also be interested in joining http://groups.drupal.org/file-api.
Konstantin