Tiles Future Again

[Greg Reddin <gr...@gmail.com>]

I just submitted the following report for this month's board checkin. As
you can see I mentioned the fact that activity has been very low. At this
point I think we need to consider whether Tiles has a future at Apache.
What do you guys think? Should we try to re-kickstart the project or retire
it? Do any of you have serious plans for Tiles in the future?

Thanks,
Greg

Board Report:

Apache Tiles is a templating framework built to simplify the development of
web
application user interfaces.

Over the last couple of quarters it seems that Tiles has started to
stagnate
again. It's probably time to discuss retirement again, so I will get that
discussion started and report on it again in the future. There has been a
small
amount of discussion on various mailing lists, but not nearly enough to say
that
the project is moving forward at this time. I'll check with the PMC and see
if
they see that changing any time soon.

Re: Tiles Future Again

[Nicolas LE BAS <ma...@nlebas.net>]

Sorry about my silence, I've basically had no spare time for the past 6
months and I do not expect any change before summer at best.

I have a number of things sitting on my github fork, basically working
but breaking backwards compatibility until I can improve them.

Plenty of ideas, too, but I cannot call them plans until I have the free
time to spend on them.

So I will happily pick it up again when/if I can, but from my end the
future looks uncertain.

Nick

Re: Tiles Future Again

[Nathan Bubna <nb...@gmail.com>]

+1 for holding off as long as work is planned.  thx for the update mck!

On Tue, Mar 19, 2013 at 8:30 AM, Greg Reddin <gr...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Tue, Mar 19, 2013 at 9:01 AM, Mck <mc...@apache.org> wrote:
>
>> On Fri, 2013-03-15 at 16:40 -0500, Greg Reddin wrote:
>> > What do you guys think? Should we try to re-kickstart the project or
>> > retire it?
>>
>> I have a backlog of work around velocity and mustache that will result
>> in a release or two. I'm dragging my heels in getting to it but it's
>> expected this quarter. If we could keep the evaluation period open a
>> little longer.
>>
>
> No problem. As long as there is some activity, or at least planned
> activity, I don't think the board will have a problem with it. And we have
> another quarter before we have to report again.
>
> But here's the other concern: Apache is more about the community of the
> projects than the substance of the projects. Apache would not like to see a
> project that has only one active committer. My goal for the last couple of
> years has been to help reconstitute the PMC and eventually step down.
> Between you, Nicolas, and myself, we have three voting members. It would be
> good to recruit a few more PMC members if we want to keep the project
> going. That way, the project wouldn't depend on one or two people always
> being active.
>
> If we don't see that happening, the other option would be to fork the
> project over to GitHub or something, give it a different name, and let
> Tiles go to the attic. Of course, anyone who still wanted to contribute
> could do so. In fact it might be easier with a model like GitHub because
> there would be a lower barrier to entry. The only difference is we wouldn't
> get the legal support, etc. that Apache brings. But, in all the years this
> project has existed, we haven't really needed that anyway.
>
> So it's something to think about. Again, we don't have to make a decision
> for another quarter. But if we don't see more interest between now and then
> I'd probably recommend the attic.
>
> Greg
>
>
>
>> ~mck
>>
>>

Re: Tiles Future Again

[Greg Reddin <gr...@gmail.com>]

On Tue, Mar 19, 2013 at 9:01 AM, Mck <mc...@apache.org> wrote:

> On Fri, 2013-03-15 at 16:40 -0500, Greg Reddin wrote:
> > What do you guys think? Should we try to re-kickstart the project or
> > retire it?
>
> I have a backlog of work around velocity and mustache that will result
> in a release or two. I'm dragging my heels in getting to it but it's
> expected this quarter. If we could keep the evaluation period open a
> little longer.
>

No problem. As long as there is some activity, or at least planned
activity, I don't think the board will have a problem with it. And we have
another quarter before we have to report again.

But here's the other concern: Apache is more about the community of the
projects than the substance of the projects. Apache would not like to see a
project that has only one active committer. My goal for the last couple of
years has been to help reconstitute the PMC and eventually step down.
Between you, Nicolas, and myself, we have three voting members. It would be
good to recruit a few more PMC members if we want to keep the project
going. That way, the project wouldn't depend on one or two people always
being active.

If we don't see that happening, the other option would be to fork the
project over to GitHub or something, give it a different name, and let
Tiles go to the attic. Of course, anyone who still wanted to contribute
could do so. In fact it might be easier with a model like GitHub because
there would be a lower barrier to entry. The only difference is we wouldn't
get the legal support, etc. that Apache brings. But, in all the years this
project has existed, we haven't really needed that anyway.

So it's something to think about. Again, we don't have to make a decision
for another quarter. But if we don't see more interest between now and then
I'd probably recommend the attic.

Greg



> ~mck
>
>

Re: Tiles Future Again

[Mck <mc...@apache.org>]

On Fri, 2013-03-15 at 16:40 -0500, Greg Reddin wrote:
> What do you guys think? Should we try to re-kickstart the project or
> retire it? 

I have a backlog of work around velocity and mustache that will result
in a release or two. I'm dragging my heels in getting to it but it's
expected this quarter. If we could keep the evaluation period open a
little longer.

~mck

Re: Tiles Future Again

[Nathan Bubna <nb...@gmail.com>]

i've no plans, and no prblem fading into attic.

On Fri, Mar 15, 2013 at 2:40 PM, Greg Reddin <gr...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I just submitted the following report for this month's board checkin. As
> you can see I mentioned the fact that activity has been very low. At this
> point I think we need to consider whether Tiles has a future at Apache.
> What do you guys think? Should we try to re-kickstart the project or retire
> it? Do any of you have serious plans for Tiles in the future?
>
> Thanks,
> Greg
>
> Board Report:
>
> Apache Tiles is a templating framework built to simplify the development of
> web
> application user interfaces.
>
> Over the last couple of quarters it seems that Tiles has started to
> stagnate
> again. It's probably time to discuss retirement again, so I will get that
> discussion started and report on it again in the future. There has been a
> small
> amount of discussion on various mailing lists, but not nearly enough to say
> that
> the project is moving forward at this time. I'll check with the PMC and see
> if
> they see that changing any time soon.