On Monday 10 September 2007 03:40:59 pm David E Jones wrote: > This seems different from what you described above with the Linux kernel... > but I'm interested to hear more of how you think that would work > independent of what is going on with OFBiz and OFBiz derivatives right now. > > The way I look at it is that the open source project really has one > purpose: it allows different groups to collaborate and do things together > that would be too difficult and expensive any group to really do on their > own. > > Hotwax is becoming one of the larger OFBiz-based consultancies (though > certainly not even close to the biggest), but even Hotwax is WAY too small > to handle something the size and scope of OFBiz... like probably at least > 10 to 1 and perhaps a 100 to 1 level of magnitude difference. > > The ASF repository is definitely not meant to be Hotwax only, and I don't > see it as that at all. In fact, it worries me a LOT to see anyone say > something like that. I don't think it's even close to true either... the > traffic in the mailing lists, issue tracker AND the SVN repository all tell > a very different story! > > IMO it's totally fine and normal for there to be local repos that groups > maintain for their projects. > > Whatever is done and however it's done the trick is how do you work with > others? If you don't have processes and practices to participate in a group > effort, then you're really not participating in the group... > > OFBiz could greatly benefit from more contributors and committers, and from > experience with this type of software it is difficult for enthusiasts and > hobbyists to participate part-time, so the people doing stuff full-time > based on OFBiz are the most valuable to the project... and by participating > in the project open the door to receive benefits that just aren't possible > any other way! Collaboration really is the WHOLE point of an open source > project, or to put it in ASF terms: communication is the key!
I may be overstating matters and its certainly a matter of perception. I suppose I may just be grumpy because no one paid any attention to my ProductRole patch (OFBIZ-1177). Grand Hotwax cabal conspiracies aside, I think the point is cogent that the project would benefit from the highly decentralized development strategy implied by GIT/Mercurial. We are all going to have different priorities about what should or shouldn't be done in the project, everyone is capable of making mistakes and market forces will (presumably) eventually direct users to whichever source base provides the most value. I think Si's development efforts are the starkest example currently because their can be little doubt about the role of Open Source Solutions in the OpenTaps repository. Being able to submit patches to Si or OFBiz, but then later coordinate a merge between sourcebases with, perhaps, some patches already applied on both sides would be a real convenience. -- Ean Schuessler, CTO [EMAIL PROTECTED] 214-720-0700 x 315 Brainfood, Inc. http://www.brainfood.com
