- lack of clear leadership and even basic direction scratch-an-itch development is fine and good, but not in total chaos
Umm... this *is* the ASF. It's *developer* driven. The direction is defined by the developers.
- cathedral development
it appears that more than a few serious discussions have not happened
on-list and instead happen on IRC or elsewhere (board rooms?) without
apprising the list of what transpired. (Or have there been absolutely
no recent design discussions?)
I agree that in some cases, irc is "replacing" dev@, which is Not Good. Thank God we haven't started using stupid wikis.
- patch management
many patches posted to this list or the bug db languish in limbo.
Very little happens until a core contributor decides to take over a patch
(more often than not it is more than simply shepherding it)
Little feedback; it often feels like nobody's home to answer the phone...
- insufficient (developer) documentation
sure, there's the source, but it takes a lot longer to wrap ones head
around the Apache2 paradigms than it did for Apache 1.3 BUFFs and such.
The barrier to entry is much higher; solid design documents would be
infinitely helpful
- many new contributors are frustrated and discouraged
see all of the above
The voluble Kevin Kiley said it well:
"Make it EASY to contribute... not a nightmare."
The above are *not* 1.3 issues, per se, but httpd ones.
*** We need to get back many of the disenfranchised Apache 1.3 developers
Killing Apache 1.3 is not a good option. There is a strong "business" need in many places to stay with Apache 1.3.
The better option is reopening the 1.3 tree. Release 1.4 and open a 1.5 dev tree, with the specific intent on having the 1.4 release eventually map _directly_ into a _seamless_ upgrade to Apache 2.x, with very easy and clear directions for using a reverse proxy for those legacy 1.3 third-pary modules.) While upgrading is not hard for developers, Apache is not a simple product. We need an even-better (tm) way to get users from There (Apache 1.3) to Here (Apache 2.x). Yes, more trees are extra work, but this community is rapidly deteriorating without them.
As noted many times, 1.3 is actively maintained but not actively developed. To be honest, I've not seen that many people saying "I *really* want to add this to 1.3!". If they had, chances are good that I'd +1 (not that what goes into 1.3 is my decision...).
I'm curious how a 1.4 or whatever would make it "easier" for people to make that transition. What would 1.4 have or be for that to happen?
