Thanks (really!)

[Zbigniew Łuszpiński]

> 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".

Thanks Goran!

Sounds wonderful! The lunar devels feel paranoid fear when they look at 
contributors. I can understand such behaviour when newbie is updating 
important core module already present in moonbase (thus I did not put my 
credits in updated mozilla module because do not feel power enough to handle 
it). But if I post new module with maintainer line (like libXvMC) and my 
e-mail is cut this is insane. I really was ready to maintain this module 
because I build every new version for myself. The same was with other 
modules. But if developers do not trust me they will have to take care of it 
now. I'm curious how will they do that if they never use libXvMC.

In the way you presented we can keep lunar fresh without bothering busy 
developers and preserve our rights to modules we create. I was going to leave 
lunar because of module piracy but will stay. Now I'm learning your 
http://anakin.bluefish.se/gohu/33 and if find some extra time will publish my 
own webpage with lunar modules. I'm also thinking about automatic patching 
engine for lunar tools because my patches are killed everytime I do lunar 
update. Thanks to optional nature of your idea there will be no conflict (I 
think) with conservative developers.

In future we could do own alternative moonbase totaly belonging to 
contributors where our rights will be respected. The user will download both 
old, lagging behind classic moonbase and new, always fresh contributors 
moonbase (more people do more updates). If module from contribs base would 
not work a classic devels base could be used instead. I'm sure if people 
learn that their modules are not hijacked they will go back. The best 
contributor could be promoted to junior developer if senior developers would 
agree.

greets,
zbiggy
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