Magical O-S Projects (was: Re: Jakarta/Apache XML/RDF configuration file format(s))

[jon * <jo...@clearink.com>]

> By the way, is this sort of thing taken into consideration on Jakarta, or
> open source projects in general? If not, does it sort of magically happen?

At least with regards to the Java Apache project (of which I'm very involved
in), it has been pretty magical so far. We have had our learning curves of
course, but for the most part, I feel as though all of the developers have
worked together extremely well and have formed both friendships within the
project and personally outside the project as well. We do not always get
along and there are often long discussions and disagreements, but they are
also well founded in reality and generally result in decisions that are the
best for the project overall.

Not only have we attracted world class developers, but there is also a huge
and ever growing user base (over 830 people on the java-apache-users mailing
list now).

It is best to remember that not all open source projects are created equal.
All of them are run by different people with different view points and
different goals in mind. In other words, what I have found that works best
for the Java Apache project may or may not work best for other projects
(including Jakarta).

These are all factors that I attribute to the success of the Java Apache
Project:

    o CVS write access to anybody who shows they have a good reason for it
        (ie: they want to contribute something)

    o Easy CVS write access. do not make developers jump through hoops

    o Being extremely responsive towards helping people get up to speed with
        things like CVS

    o Mailing lists that have really good performance

    o A CVS commit mailing list, CVSweb and daily snapshots

    o Open discussion between the developers that isn't flame based

    o consideration for everybody and everything involved

    o appreciation of all contributions and contributors

    o listening to what people have to say and then being responsive to the
        suggestions and comments.

    o Constantly updated FAQ-O-Matic. make it easy for people to contribute
        their information!

    o "Active Developers" vs. "Core Developers". We try to discourage the
        idea of "I'm better than you" that I feel the term "core" tends to
        lead people to feel. everybody is equally appreciated.

    o Bug fixes and minor features, commit first ask questions later policy.

    o Luck

I really hope that the Jakarta project is able to live up to the most
excellent success of the Java Apache project and I'm here to help try to
make that happen as best as I can.

thanks,

-jon

Re: Magical O-S Projects (was: Re: Jakarta/Apache XML/RDFconfiguration file format(s))

[James Duncan Davidson <du...@x180.com>]

>     o Mailing lists that have really good performance

Uh-huh.. :) Yes, the java.sun.com list *has* been having problems. :)

> I really hope that the Jakarta project is able to live up to the most
> excellent success of the Java Apache project and I'm here to help try to
> make that happen as best as I can.

We do have some tall shoes to fill thanks to the work that Jon, Pier,
Stefano, Craig and co have done on the jserv projects. Thank goodnes
they are here working with us! :)

-- 
James Davidson       
duncan@eng.sun.com                http://java.sun.com/products/servlet
duncan@x180.com                              http://jakarta.apache.org
!try; do()                                              PGP:0x7D776205

Re: Magical O-S Projects (was: Re: Jakarta/Apache XML/RDFconfiguration file format(s))

[Stefano Mazzocchi <st...@apache.org>]

jon * wrote:

I totally agree with Jon.

In fact, Jon and I are considered responsible for having moved a small
site project to develop a way to run servlet in Apache to a complete
community center (in ancient greek, Agorà) with so much people (and
power) that we were able to discuss with Sun and other companies about
their involvement.

Jakarta was not created by the java.apache project alone. Not at all,
this is not my point. The point is that in a year or so, the ideas that
Jon very well explained, increased the power (in the physical sense:
energy/time) of our project in a tremendous way.

I suggest you all to read a few documentation on the case:

"The Magic Cauldron" by Eric Raymond

 <http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/writings/magic-cauldron/>

"The Java Apache Project Constitution" by me and others

 <http://java.apache.org/main/constitution.html>

I also agree with Jon that this sort of very open government model might
not work very well in all situations, but in favoring active
partecipation and keeping a respectfull behavior, the energy wasted in
human interaction is reduced by orders of magnitude.

This creates friendship, respect, and a strong sense of community.
Software is just a byproduct. :)

-- 
Stefano Mazzocchi       A language that doesn't affect the way you 
                      think about programming, is not worth knowing.
<st...@apache.org>                             Alan J. Perlis
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