[drupal-devel] Project management contribs: Bundles: grouped modules.

[Mark Howell]

OK, just chiming in on this.  I don't know if my perspective is unique
among contrib developers, but my time spent on drupal modules is sporadic.
 I try, whenever possible, to develop useful modules as part of whatever
projects I'm working on.  Sometimes, they're really only useful to me, so
I never even put them into CVS.  I have half a dozen modules that I've
reused personally, but couldn't ever see anyone else finding useful.
> Okay let's not loose focus.
> A summary:
> We agree on the poitn that we need:
> * a closed contribs section (official)
> * an open contribs section (sanbox)
I like this idea.  I, too, like both quality and diversity and would want
to see everything possible if I felt like looking for it.
>
> We disagree (or so it seems) on how to mamange the closed contribs.  *
> I say we should bundle them by functionality,
> * You are saying we need some rating for them.
Perhaps just an overall status assessment for each module.  If a module's
been out for 1 week, then I wouldn't consider it stable, even if there are
no current issues with it.  I think it would be easy enough to provide a
few metrics, like "age", "# of critical bugs", "ease of installation",
"ease of operation" or something like that.  As an example, I couldn't
imagine a moblog module that didn't involve tons of outside configuration
and dependent modules.
>
> * WE all say we need to pass modules trough a team of contrib
> maintainers  before they are allowed in the closed sesction.
If there were such a team of contrib mantainers, people like myself might
feel more comfortable about contributing modules.  Whereas I might have
enough time to properly develop a module, there's a good chance that I
won't be around to fix bugs for a while.  A team of contrib maintainers
would keep decent modules from falling into deprecacy.
>
> * We should not forget that we actually have such a closed & open
> system, but  too little people actually use it: All specific and
> unfinshed code *must* be  in /sandbox/yourname/
> Only releasable modules should be in contribs.
> Only finshed modules should be taggted for a Drupal release.
> PPl. seem to disagree a lot about when it the last two points are
> applicable.
I agree that is is misleading to have unfinished modules sitting beside
working ones.  I think if the sandbox were configured such that
directories could be browsed and documented (and downloaded as tgz files)
similar to the way the current releases are, people would be more apt to
keep their unfinished code in there.
>
> So: We do not disagree, But I am saying that we should go a bit further
> than  only closed contribs: Thats where I am talking abou "combining".
> I meant to  "combine" the bundles and close-open contribs ideas.
I'm a big fan of bundles, but only for the purposes of easing installation
and module selection.  I would want the bundles to exist in addition to
all of the other modules/sandboxes, not in place of them.
One of the main reasons for the sandbox, IMO, is to put code that's not
complete or requires patching of other code to operate properly.  This
code is no less valuable, though.
Mark