Going once ... going twice ....
Anybody that thinks we need to release samples for 2.1 and/or 2.1.1
should speak up soon. So far the consensus is a 2.1.2 release only.
Thanks to those that responded.
Joe
Joe Bohn wrote:
We've been going back and forth on samples now for some time. There are
multiple reasons why the samples are not yet released -- but one of them
has to do with compatibility for the 2.1.x releases.
Up until now I've been assuming that we would release samples for 2.1
for the sake of completeness and ensure that we can get those same
samples working on 2.1.1 and 2.1.2+. If it wasn't possible to get the
same samples working on higher releases then I figured we would release
2.1.1 and 2.1.2+ versions of the samples. Now, I'm starting to wonder
if it is worth the effort to release samples for anything other than 2.1.2.
Here are the facts:
- We can add artifact-alias entries to get 2.1 samples working on a
2.1.2 server or even a 2.2 server.
- A fix was required for the alias processing which was not included in
2.1.1. Therefore, if we release samples for 2.1 we will not be able to
run them on 2.1.1 - but we could run them on 2.1.2 (when released). That
seems like a strange scenario - 2.1 ok, 2.1.2 no, 2.1.2 ok. If we
release 2.1.1 samples in addition to 2.1 then which of those do we point
users to leverage on 2.1.2? IMO it would be clearer to say we support
2.1.2+.
- Is there a strong need for samples on older releases or are they
primarily of value on the latest release? As Lin pointed out to me,
users looking at samples will most likely be working with our latest
release. If we release samples for 2.1/2.1.1 will anybody actually use
them (assuming we release 2.1.2 and follow that up quickly with the
samples for 2.1.2)?
So these are the obvious choices:
1) Release samples for 2.1. Release another version of samples for
2.1.1. Then either release samples for 2.1.2 or include alias entries
in the 2.1.2 server so that the 2.1/2.1.1 samples will work on 2.1.2.
OR
2) Release samples for 2.1. Skip 2.1.1. Add artifact aliases to
support the 2.1 samples on 2.1.2 and document that we don't support
samples on 2.1.1.
OR
3) Release samples for 2.1.2 and then address any future 2.1.x releases
with artifact aliases. Point users that want to leverage samples to do
so on 2.1.2+ and document that we don't support samples on 2.1 or 2.1.1.
There are a few potential issues with option #3:
- The ldap sample requires directory server to be installed on G or the
use of an external LDAP server. The recommended approach for the
installed directory server is to install the Directory plugin. However,
this plugin is currently only released for a G 2.1 server. We would
need to either release a new version of the Directory plugin or do the
compatibility trick with aliases again for 2.1.2.
- The 2.1 & 2.1.1 welcome page references to the jsp, servlet, and
ldap-sample examples will never work. Actually, they won't work even if
we release 2.1 & 2.1.1 samples unless we want to change the
groupid/module names of these samples back to the original names prior
to a release of them (which I doubt we would want to do).
Any other issues, recommendations, or thoughts?
Joe
