MESSAGE
DATE | 2021-03-25 |
FROM | From: =?UTF-8?Q?Andr=c3=a9_Warnier_=28tomcat/perl=29?=
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SUBJECT | Re: [Hangout - NYLXS] [DISCUSS] The future of mod_perl
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Hi.
I am a long-term (30+) user of Apache/mod_perl (and perl), but at the application level, not at the committer or PMC level. May I therefor respectfully contribute an "outsider's" point of view ?
I believe that mod_perl (like perl itself) suffers from the fact that it is just "too good", in the sense that it do what its (existing and good) documentation says, it works, there are few "problems" (and certainly no urgent one), and in consequence there is not much said about it (and little to do or to say about it), despite the fact that it may be much used (an aspect that is little investigated, and of which we consequently know very little). For the same reason, expressions like "managing its releases" or "number of committers/commits" lack a bit of meaning, if such releases or commits are mostly infrequent and not really required (as in, for example, "for fixing bugs" or "to maintain compatibility with the lastest Apache httpd release").
In that sense, moving a project such as Apache/mod_perl "to the Attic" sounds a bit unfair and derogatory (as per associations with "forgotten", "historical", spiderwebs etc.), and may even have the unfortunate result of discouraging "young blood" to even look at it.
If anything, projects of that quality should probably gain their own distinction. (I would suggest "Emeritus" if that term itself didn't somehow sound like "retired").
So, considering that Apache is a widely respected organisation whose "stamp" on software matters a lot, and considering that despite its age it is still dynamic and all, how about introducing a new classification for such outstanding mature projects, and selecting mod_perl as its first member ? Like, "Apache Patrimony Projects" ?
By the way, what about "libapreq2", of which I just saw the annoucement of a new release. Is that part of mod_perl, or a separate project ? (it seems like at least a quite close relative to mod_perl - and I use both - that's why I'm asking).
On 20.03.2021 15:37, Philippe Chiasson wrote: > I am also still around and keeping an eye on things, maybe from afar a little, but still > here and invested. > > For myself, I find that one of the challenges in filing board reports is having to > effectively report more or less nothing of value, on a schedule that’s just long and > infrequent enough to keep overlooking it, basically. > > Sent from the depths of my mind on an iPhone > >> On Mar 17, 2021, at 15:40, Sander Striker wrote: >> > >> >> Dear community members, >> >> As projects mature, they will naturally reach a point where activity reduces to a level >> such that the project is no longer sustainable. At Apache, projects reach this stage >> when there are not at least 3 active PMC members providing oversight. Projects that >> reach this stage are usually placed in the Attic [1] or absorbed by another Apache >> project willing to manage its releases. >> >> If you are interested in seeing mod_perl remain an active project, and are able to help >> maintain and provide oversight, please respond in this thread indicating that you are >> interested in performing the duties of a PMC member[2]. >> >> Cheers, >> >> Sander Striker >> Director, The Apache Software Foundation >> >> [1] https://attic.apache.org/ >> [2] https://www.apache.org/dev/pmc.html >> _______________________________________________ Hangout mailing list Hangout-at-nylxs.com http://lists.mrbrklyn.com/mailman/listinfo/hangout
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