[development] CVS HEAD, code freeze, zeitgeist

[Dries Buytaert]

On 19 Aug 2006, at 14:08, Bèr Kessels wrote:
> Op zaterdag 19 augustus 2006 10:42, schreef Dries Buytaert:
>> If a successful project has problems, the maintainer can send an e-
>> mail to the mailing list asking for help, ask for help raising funds,
>> write about it in a forum topic, give a presentation about it, or
>> what not.  It all creates visibility, and people will start to care.
>
> I did that for flexinode a couple of times and received NULL.
> Is it me, or my behaviour that keeps away people? Probably.
> Is it my lack of LOADS of time to review all patches? even more  
> probably.
> Is it the fact the module is not popular, that people don't use it?  
> Unlikely.

Well, I don't remember those e-mails but it probably means you did  
something wrong.  For example, just sending a couple of factual e- 
mails clearly isn't enough.  Neither is begging for help.  You have  
to transfer the passion, make them feel connected, and literally suck  
them in.  Don't beg for help, but help them help you.  (Yes, _you_  
have to help _them_ (help you) -- and not the other way around.)

>  * A workflow. Drupal is aware that modules with such a status are  
> important
> to Drupal as a whole. I dare to bet (for a Duvel) that there are at  
> least
> five contribs that are more important for Drupal (very broad) then  
> some core
> modules. Drupal ackonowledges this importance.

We all know what is important, and what is not.  We don't need golden  
stars to figure out that flexinode, cck, views, e-commmerce and image  
are important.  There is common sense amongst developers.

>  * Security. Abovementioned flexinode case makes me beleive that  
> all people
> who use Drupal 4.7.x and flexinode, have not upgraded to 4.7.3.

I don't know what the problem is with flexinode or why it can't be  
upgraded.  If this is due to a critical bug in core, please point us  
to the issue in the patch queue.  Hopefully, it is marked critical.   
I haven't seen an e-mail about it on security at drupal.org either.

> But if he did his homework, found that flexinode may or may not  
> solve hiss
> issue, AND sees that flexinode is NOT marked as special-supported  
> (or golden,
> whatever) and /then/ gets to see errors, we have still won. Because we
> (Drupal) have said to him: Core is what Drupal is, Golden contribs  
> is what we
> advice, the pile of code out there is a scrapyard where you may  
> find just
> what you need, but don't count on it. But never count on it.

I'm all for adding ratings, showing information about the project's  
health, etc.  Hence my previous e-mail with the mock-up.  I think  
such information should be auto-generated based on various metrics:

  - Number of contributors
  - Patch queue activity
  - Security history
  - Download statistiscs
  - Usage statistics
  - Number of commits
  - ...

--
Dries Buytaert  ::  http://www.buytaert.net/