I've only been with the project for about a year, but agree activity
seems to have be faded recently. There are a lot of unresolved JIRA
issues reported by me that I haven't had time to reevaluate.
Based on a previous posts by contributors such as Adrian Crum about lack
of potential innovation within the community and posts about other
projects such as Moqui, I assume members are exploring other options or
getting discouraged. Others credited some of the lack of participation
to the projects maturity. It was also mentioned that OFBiz might last
another 10-15 years and then be replaced by something like Moqui.
I would like to see this project have more activity and am also happy to
discuss its future.
On 03/05/2014 10:04 AM, simon_mask...@stannah.co.uk wrote:
Hi
I am newer to Ofbiz then everybody else on the list so can only
comment on what has happened recently(1.5 years), in my short
experience it feels like there are a few committers actively working
with Ofbiz and the others don't seem to be adding any real value.
I guess it depends what the community want from Ofbiz, do we want a
complete ERP system that looks good and has most of the functionality
of the commercial products or it is more of a framework which requires
quite a bit of coding to get it working(just my experience may not be
everyone's). I would rather the first option, we have had to persuade
quite a few senior manager and director in our business that Ofbiz is
the right solutions because out the box as it looks old fashioned and
doesn't have all the features a medium sized company requires.
I am happy to discuss further as we have banked on Ofbiz being around
for a while and would want to be involved in shaping its future.
Best Regards
Simon
*Simon Maskell *
*Service Delivery Manager*
*Stannah Management Services Ltd*
*IT Department*
*Ext:*
7056
*DDI:*
01264 341256
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01264 341264
Please consider the environment before printing this email.
From: Rupert Howell <ruperthow...@provolve.com>
To: Paul Piper <p...@ilscipio.com>,
Cc: Pierre Smits <pierre.sm...@orrtiz.com>, Simon Maskell
<simon_mask...@stannah.co.uk>, Nick Rosser <nros...@solveda.com>, Imac
<edsay...@hotmail.com>, christian.car...@gmail.com,
jadelome...@robertheath.co.uk, Andrew Hemp <andrewh...@provolve.com>
Date: 05/03/2014 15:08
Subject: Re: The future of OFBiz
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi
Yes I agree with you both, the project feels stagnant and it feels
like an 'Old Boys' club at times with features and paradigm changes
for personal gain being included and prioritised ahead of much needed
work that would benefit the community. There have been a few cases of
this recently and they basically came down to one thing - the
committers and contributors must also support themselves financially -
so what they are working on for private business becomes a priority
for them.
I, like Paul, have grievances with the project but also see the
benefits that have kept me working with it for such a long period of
time. Changing the status quo is a tricky thing to do and would take
alot of time and alot of resource (and therefore money) - as OFBiz is
perpetually suffering from the lack of these I am definitely
interested to hear any ideas you may have for the present, but also
for the future - as in a year's time the committers and contributors
will still have to support themselves financially.
I've worked with Jacques before on private contracts and know that he
will often put community gain ahead of financial so I'm definitely
keen to hear his opinion. Pierre, I'm guessing to have sent this mail
out - and to the subset of the mailing list you have sent it to - you
have an embryonic idea/plan of the way you would like to steer this
and I am keen to hear that also. I'd also have some suggestions that I
would class as critical for the project to survive that I could air.
I have added my colleague Andrew Hemp to the list of CCs.
All the best.
Rupert
On 5 March 2014 14:06, Paul Piper <_pp@ilscipio.com_
<mailto:p...@ilscipio.com>> wrote:
Hi Pierre,
I share your belief that the current set-up is not beneficial to the
community. I fear that many of the current problems (few committers,
slow progress, missing release-plan, focus on specific technologies
[minilang]) derive on the setup and are blocking progress of an
otherwise great project and hence I am all in favor of meeting up for
a conference call.
I would like to include Jacques to our discussion, however. I think he
has a long-term, non-financial interest in the community and it would
be beneficial to hear his perspective as well. Especially, since I
dont see this as a move against specific members, but against a
status-quo.
Cheers,
Paul
*Von:* Pierre Smits [mailto:_pierre.smits@orrtiz.com_
<mailto:pierre.sm...@orrtiz.com>] *
Gesendet:* Mittwoch, 5. März 2014 14:23*
An:* Simon Maskell; Rupert Howell; Nick Rosser; Paul Piper; Imac;
_christian.carlow@gmail.com_ <mailto:christian.car...@gmail.com>;
_jadelome...@robertheath.co.uk_ <mailto:jadelome...@robertheath.co.uk>*
Betreff:* The future of OFBiz
Hi All,
How do you feel the project is going? Does it feel to you, like it
does to me, that is getting a bit stale...
The list of unresolved issues is growing, even when with patches and
the activity of PMC members and committers seem to be diminishing. And
innovation, both community and code wise seems to be stalling.
Having been part of the OFBiz community for over 5 years now I see the
decline (like others do) and something needs to be done. This project
should be a healthy one with an active influx of new contributors
(every question raised and every answer given also qualifies) year on
year. And with it effects on the group of committers and PMC.
The list of PMC members currently contains 13 names (see _here_
<https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/OFBADMIN/Apache+OFBiz+PMC+%28Project+Management+Committee%29+Members+and+Committers>),
of which some have never been active at all in this project (2 -
probably the initial sponsors when the project was in incubation) and
several others seem to have withdrawn from the project (although still
stated otherwise in earlier mentioned list). This list hasn't changed
much over the lifespan of the project. PMC members seem to think that
it is a lifetime tenure.
In fact, currently only 5 are somewhat active and of those 5 active
members 3 are of the same company (hotwax). Given that the 5 PMC
members are also the 5 active committers it seems that working in the
interest of the project (which as the ASF states should be 'community
over code') isn't happening that much any more. Only 1 is actively
involved in participating in the community. And the others seem to be
committed to achieve their own agenda in stead of being committed to
the project.
All this is against the wishes of the Apache Foundation.
Nonetheless, the reports the PMC chair sends in every quarter (see
_here_
<https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/OFBADMIN/ASF+Board+Reports>)
doesn't express these concerns. In stead it states that although there
is decline everything is ok. But no thanks to them I would say.
Do you feel the same? Unfortunately, given that we all are dispersed
all over the planet meeting and discuss this and other aspects of the
project is not an option.
Would an OFBiz open discussion via a teleconference to discus the
Future of the project and get to know the other participating in the
project be an option for you?
If so, please reply (and state the issues you believe should be
discussed), and - if there is enough interest - I will set things up
and communicate through the OFBiz ML.
PS. Please understand that this is not about getting individual issues
expedited. However, blockers and critical issues may warrant
discussion...
Regards,
Met vriendelijke groet,
*Pierre Smits*
mob. _+31 6 432 45 169_ <tel:%2B31%206%20432%2045%20169>
Skype: pierresmits_somonar
*ORRTIZ: BMS*
Services & Solutions for
Cloud-Based Manufacturing,
Professional Services and Retail & Trade
*_www.orrtiz.com_* <http://www.orrtiz.com/>
--
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Provolve Ltd
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