On Tue, Feb 10, 2004 at 09:59:32AM +0100, A. Pagaltzis wrote: > * Mark Stosberg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> [2004-02-09 15:26]: > > I think the CPAN rating system could be of further help here as > > well. It could be integrated with the search.cpan.org search > > engine. The rating could appear on the results page, with > > top-rated modules appearing first. So, just searching for a > > module named "mail" should be begin to give you a sensible > > result. > > I like this proposition. However I'm just not sure I a) want it > used with no way to disable it b) want it used as the default. > > > This public prominence would also encourage more people to use > > the system, I believe. > > It would also encourage abuse, unfortunately.
Not in my experience. I run http://www.skatepark.org/ , which allows for easy account sign up, at which point you can rate and review things. The most useful ratings and reviews are of the Skatepark developers. Skatepark contracts are typically for $100,000 or more, so selecting a skatepark contractor is a big deal. There was a lot of controversy when I launched the system. All the skatepark developers warned that their competitors would abuse it. Knowing some of their tactics and behaviors, I actually thought they might. :) But I was willing to try. That's been in place for some years now, and I personally look at all the ratings. I have no sense that the system has ever been abused. Sometimes people may rate themselves (once!). But that happens even less than with Perl module authors!. Sometimes I think developers ask clients to rate them, but the reviews seem fair enough, and I think that is reasonable. With Perl modules, I think there is typically less on the line than $100,000 contracts. I found in my own experience that people are generally trustworthy. I think it would be quite sufficient to have some way to flag reviews (or users) that appear to be abusive. From another angle, I see the current problem with the rating system is not abuse-- I've never noticed any beyond people rating their own modules with 5 stars with reviews like "It's my module". It's primary downfall now is that it's simply not being used a lot. Making further barriers to using it would only serve to work this worse. If the system is highly used and slightly abused (say 1%), the ratings should still remain useful. Mark -- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mark Stosberg Principal Developer [EMAIL PROTECTED] Summersault, LLC 765-939-9301 ext 202 database driven websites . . . . . http://www.summersault.com/ . . . . . . . .
