[development] enterprise needs

[Gerhard Killesreiter]

Benson Wong wrote:

>Hi Ann,
>
>  
>
>>Dries and chx are really nice people when you talk with them in person.
>>    
>>
>
>I met Dries a couple of times. I have a lot of respect for him.
>
>  
>
>>I agree with you that Drupal's lack of backwards compatibility makes it
>>difficult for enterprise users.  One of the biggest enterprise users
>>told me he plans to never upgrade.  Other enterprise users I spoke with
>>about this  have reached the same conclusion.
>>    
>>
>
>I think I have a much clearer understanding of Drupal's nature and
>developer side now. A lot of the feedback was constructive and if
>anything, has helped me make the big decision of whether choosing
>Drupal, or continuing to use it as our corporate CMS is the right
>decision.
>
>Before developing with Drupal, I didn't care much about the
>development processes behind the scenes. I just downloaded it,
>installed it and used it. Now that I've invested a lot of time into
>writing drupal code, and had at some exposure to the developer culture
>behind it, I actually have opinion about some things.
>
>My boss made a great observation about Drupal. It's too hard to use,
>too "techie".
>

I prefer the term "powerful".

> That's pretty true on the flip side too. Regardless of
>my skills, I find it difficult to make positive contributions to core.
>  
>

Most people don't start by rewriting large parts of core.

>I can "fix bugs", but why when the original authors are the most
>qualified to fix those bugs?
>  
>

Cause they might not have the time, or even care about bugs in a part of 
the code that they don't feel is that important to them.

>I can "find bugs", but I wonder why don't we have better quality
>control in the first place. Isn't introducing _more_ bugs with every
>new feature a clear indication our processes need to be examined?
>  
>

Uhhh. One thing about Open Source development is that there are usually 
not many processes involved...

Over the years, we actually have resolved to implement some processes. 
Feel free to suggest improvements, but for continued good working 
relationship I suggest you scratch "backwards compatibility", 
"responsibility",  and related items from your vocabulary.

>I can contribute modules. I have a slick authenticated web service
>module but have been waiting on a CVS account for a couple of weeks. I
>  
>

Happens.

>can host and source control my own module, but there's no way to add
>it to contributions on the site. Frustrating.
>  
>

IIRC, I approved your account.

>Take it as a rant or criticism, but being less techie, isn't
>neccessarily a bad thing.
>

Why should it? But since we  - the techies - need to develop Drupal we 
are usually very reluctant to accept suggestions from outsiders.

> In the end, I just want to see Drupal do
>well. I want to contribute, and I want to do it without having to
>spend a lot of time stroking egos and doing grunt work.
>  
>

Sorry to say so, but no aim is achieved without effort. If you don't 
feel like doing grunt work once in a while, the processes that need a 
review are yours not ours.

Cheers,
    Gerhard