Thanks (really!)

[goran.krampe@bluefish.se]

Hi fellows!

I just skimmed this thread and given that I am the developer of a
similar system like the moonbase in the Squeak community (called
"SqueakMap") I can make some comparisons.

SqueakMap not only contains the "modules" but also "accounts"
(developers/maintainers) and each "module" (called "package" in
SqueakMap terminology) is owned by a single account. The maintainer can
give access to other maintainers as "co-maintainers". You can browse
SqueakMap here: http://map1.squeakfoundation.org/sm/

Then we have marked a subset of the packages as "official", this in
understanding with the maintainers of those packages so that they are
aware of that "higher level of trust" that is put into those packages.

A benefit of the ownership model (you can only change the packages you
own or co-maintain) is that anyone can be allowed to create an account
on SqueakMap and publish packages - you do not need to seek approval
etc.

In comparison, it is a big step to get "write access" to the moonbase,
and contributing modules using this mailinglist isn't gratifying since
they most often don't get picked up (and I blame noone for that, time is
a scarce resource).

When I noticed this I eventually elected to publish my modules on the
side of the moonbase using darcs:

	http://anakin.bluefish.se/gohu/33

...and have repeatedly argued for a "builtin" mechanism in the lunar
codebase to handle such unofficial moonbase "satellite" repositories -
and I think something is cooking for that, but Auke can tell more I
assume.

NOTE: Then later I was offered to become a developer but unfortunately
at this point in time I need to focus on changing jobs :).

So... does the SqueakMap approach work? Well, having such an open
"writable" system has worked for us, and if packages are orphaned the
original maintainer tens to move them to another willing owner or if the
original maintainer don't have enough time to maintain it he/she
typically adds co-maintainers to help out. In essence - people tend to
want to be responsible. :)

We did recently introduced an Orphanage account, but it hasn't been used
much yet.

The big difference compared to Lunar is of course that our maintainers
are the prime developers of the packages, and thus more likely to "stick
around". But the fact that we keep track of all developers (and their
emails etc) together with the packages is a big win, both
psychologically and technically.

regards, Göran

PS. Another difference with SqueakMap is that it also keeps track of
older releases, which of course makes it less vulnerable to "newbie
maintainer mistakes". If a faulty package release is introduced the old
version is still available. But tracking old versions also has its
problems - so I am not advocating it in the context of Lunar - there is
a strength in the fact that we all see the "same moonbase".