I think we'd all love to see Prototype be more popular, but does it really matter? It's here, it works, it works well and it's a great base on which to build complex apps. If the developers decide to not make any more upgrades we'd still have a great tool. I think of it as a house foundation and what I build on top is the house itself. If the guy that laid the foundation decided to retire, it doesn't affect my house. I can always add on to my foundation or find someone that can.
I still can't understand why tools like Prototype are free. I'd pay a yearly fee for it. If enough of us did, then perhaps the author(s) could make a living from it. But, seeing as they aren't, we can't expect them to upgrade Prototype endlessly for no money. We all need to earn a living. Having said all that, what I'd like to see in Prototype is A-just keeping it up to date with new browser technology, and B-a way to make it play better with others. I know jQuery has a no-conflict mode, but it would be nice if we didn't conflict in the first place. Maybe a way to assign $ to some other name. To make Prototype more popular I think that we can't expect the Prototype developers to do all the work. There's a lot of great stuff out there built on Prototype but what I find frustrating is the time it takes it make it look/feel like the rest of my stuff. That's not a Prototype issue. I think if all that code were better organized and managed it would move Prototype forward. For instance: if we had volunteers who could project manage, do good design/CSS work, design a framework that allowed 'widgets' to share a common base/communicate, program, establish standards and so on, then with some effort we could have a great tool with great add-ons. Imagine how simple things would be if all Prototype widgets shared the same CSS classes and usage. I'm willing to be a part of such a group. On Sep 2, 11:10 pm, Phil Petree <phil.pet...@gmail.com> wrote: > I'm going to violate one of my personal rules about responding to posts when > I have had a glass or two of wine (or, in this case, margharitas): > > What has been sticking in my head from Andrews response are these two > phrases (in quotes): > > > Prototype's development over the past few years has been typified by a > > few months of inactivity, then a furious week of activity,* "and I doubt > > that will change anytime soon*." > > So don't read anything into the periods of inactivity. "*I don't have > > any plans to stop working on Prototype*." > > What I read in to this is that Andrew has said he is not "planning" on > ceasing development anytime soon BUT plans change and when something else > takes his attention away, then development will cease. > > Now, it could be like my own forms generator... I don't write code for it > every day. In fact I only upgrade it or fix a bug when I need a new feature > or I find a bug (no one else has reported any). If that's the case then I > understand but then I might use my form generator to crank out a few forms > but I wouldnt build a business that depended on my supporting that product > for the next 'x' years. > > I think what I and others were looking for was some form of commitment... a > commitment to moving the community forward was a commitment to prototypes > future and I am left with the feeling that prototypes future is uncertain. > > Andrew, this isn't a personal attack, I just need to speak frankly and > honestly because I personally own my own sites and I write the code behind > them. If I invest tons of time in a framework like prototype then I am > hitching my star to yours. If you quit working on prototype then I am left > with some major rewrites and those rewrites are not trivial and in one case > could cost lives. > > I am still left not knowing which way to turn. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Prototype & script.aculo.us" group. To post to this group, send email to prototype-scriptaculous@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to prototype-scriptaculous+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/prototype-scriptaculous?hl=en.
