On Fri, Mar 18, 2011 at 8:49 PM, Angela Byron <[email protected]> wrote: > We've repeated this "retreat into our shell" pattern over and over again. > IRC (#drupal -> #drupal-contribute), mailing lists (development -> > groups/issue queues), the forums (issue queues). What we're left with now is > an entire "generation" of Drupal users who think Drupal.org is a place to > *consume*, not a place to *participate*. > In the end, I have absolutely no idea where Drupal 9 core/contrib developers > are going to come from. And that is absolutely terrifying. > And, fwiw, I "called" this inevitable outcome back in 2009 when this shift > was proposed: http://drupal.org/node/634486#comment-2272630 Bleh. :(
Angie, did this happen to Drupal 7? (Given many of the IRC, forum vs issue queue, etc. migration happened considerable time ago) I've seen lots of new faces contributing to Drupal 7, and it seemed to follow the natural way of progression as Drupal 5 and Drupal 6 went. Some people keep being in the top list and totally new faces come in, who've not even contributed to the previous version, or barely did so. If these "siloifications" did not have a clear effect so far, how do you expect them to kick in for Drupal 9? I think there are all kinds of levels of access now. There are people who come and participate (contribute) at Drupalcons, then the Drupalcamps, then the meetups, then the issue queues, then forums, then the lurkers who just consume information. The community grew big and there are just too many avenues to contribute and participate. For a really small village school, all children are taught in one class room together, even their ages are spanning multiple years, and there is one teacher. As the village grows, the classes grow and it becomes impossible to fit all kids in one room and for one teacher to guide them. Then come multiple classes, one for each year, and subject expert teachers. Once the classes grew big again, then comes multiple classes even for the same year, and teachers become so numerous that you need to manage them too. For kids, which classes they take and who gonna be their teacher is not a matter of choice, its well defined. In Drupal's case, "our kids" maybe even don't know where they need to learn or where they need help vs. where can they be teachers and guiders. I think we merely need better ways to help people get to the right place, not to unify all places and get everyone in a biiiig hallway, where it becomes a mess and impossible to guide people to the right place. Just imagine every event of a Drupalcon happening in the keynote room. Since, ... you know ..., everybody can fit there, the keynotes proved it. Does that make it easier to help people find each other and make progress? Gábor
