[development] adoption for 'abandoned' modules?

[Ray Zimmerman]

On Jan 19, 2007, at 11:41 AM, Karen Stevenson wrote:
> Also, I would require that anyone listed as a maintainer must have  
> their contact form enabled, otherwise they get de-listed and their  
> project gets put up for adoption on a special adoption page. OK,  
> maybe that last bit is a little strong :-) but whether or not there  
> is a way to contact the maintainer should be another factor in our  
> 'gold star' system.

Another possible option is something that is used at my university  
for mailing list owners. Once a year I get an e-mail saying that I  
have to "renew" it (i.e. basically, acknowledge that I still exist  
and have a need for it) within some window of time or it gets disabled.

I'm obviously not suggesting projects be removed or disabled, but  
such an infrequent maintainer ping like this could be helpful. I.e.  
once a year you get an e-mail saying, click this link within the next  
2 months to confirm your desire to continue as owner of the following  
modules. The destination page could have checkboxes for the projects  
you currently maintain. Anything you don't renew goes up for adoption.

One attractive feature of this approach is that it ensures that a  
maintainer is actually still reachable at their contact address.

-- 
Ray Zimmerman
Senior Research Associate
428-B Phillips Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853
phone: (607) 255-9645