Personal opinion (as a maintainer of several maven based oss projects, including some maven plugins): I think elharos approach is preferable and don't think we should wait until 5.0 to address this.
Regards, Per On Tue, 22 Jul 2025 at 14:48, Guillaume Nodet <gno...@apache.org> wrote: > Hi all, > > I'm writing to initiate a discussion about an important decision regarding > Maven 4.0's namespace strategy. We have two competing approaches > represented by different pull requests, and the *primary question is about > timing and acceptable breakage* for this release cycle. > Background > > As we approach Maven 4.0 GA (currently at RC-4), we have two PRs that > represent different philosophies: > > - *PR #2475*: Create a new modelVersion 4.2.0 (my approach, targeting > 4.1.0/master) > - *PR #10952*: Keep Maven Namespace the same (@elharo's approach) > > The Core Issue: Timing vs. Technical Merit > > *My position:* I don't disagree with @elharo's proposed change from a > technical standpoint. The benefits are: > > - Adheres to XML namespace best practices > - Makes XML processing tooling easier by not having to convert between > namespaces > > *However*, this represents a *major breaking change*. While my PR targets > 4.1.0 (master branch), since we already have a stable branch for 4.0.0, the > timing question remains critical for our overall versioning strategy. > My Proposal: Defer to Maven 5.0 > > Instead of rushing this change into 4.0, I propose we: > > 1. *Continue with my approach for Maven 4.1.0* (new modelVersion 4.2.0, > already targeting master) > 2. *Plan properly for Maven 5.0* with a brand new namespace that we > would then consider stable > 3. *Design the Maven 5.0 namespace from the ground up* with long-term > stability in mind > > This approach would give us the benefits @elharo is seeking while allowing > proper planning, testing, and ecosystem preparation. > Key Questions for the Community > > 1. *Timing*: Should we introduce a major breaking change in the 4.x > series, or wait for 5.0? > 2. *Risk tolerance*: What level of ecosystem disruption is acceptable > for a 4.x release? > 3. *Long-term vision*: Would a properly planned Maven 5.0 namespace > overhaul better serve our goals? > > I'm interested in hearing the community's thoughts on this timing vs. > technical merit trade-off. > > Best regards, > Guillaume Nodet > ------------------------------ > > *References:* > PR #2475: https://github.com/apache/maven/pull/2475 > PR #10952: https://github.com/apache/maven/pull/10952 >
