We're severals years on and it looks like the "DDTP/DDTSS will eventually be replaced by Pootle" is as far away as it ever was. In the meantime the current system, while it works, is not ideal. It runs on a Berkeley DB version 1 DB which has suffered some damage in the past and now contains rubbish here and there. Also there have been very few contributions. So I have some ideas about the future:
1. Switch the backend from BDB1 to the postgresql instance on the machine. I've actually prototyped this and it appears to work. I just put a shim BDB interface on a table in the postgres database. It's ugly and evil, but it would solve the data corruption/list issues. It would probably then get appropriately backed up. Performance won't be great but I doubt it's any worse than what is there now. Unless there are objections I want to try doing this in the weekend. 2. Long term it would be good if there were more people who could work on the system. I have the feeling that the current codebase, being essentially Perl with not very good abstractions reduces the number of potential contributors. If I were to do it again today I'd build it in Python using Django. My feeling is that this would make it more accessible for new people. Does anybody have any ideas about that? The nicest thing is that rebuilding it would allow us to remove several layers of abstraction, the current system being built to send and receive emails from the DDTP. With direct access to the DB several new features become much easier. Perhaps the web interface for the DDTP could be included making improvements there as well (it could use a facelift). The problem with rebuilding is that you run the risk that it never gets done. On the other hand I think the current interface is a dead-end development-wise. Note I'm not talking about the backend scripts, just the frontend and the DDTSS. Any comments? -- Martijn van Oosterhout <[email protected]> http://svana.org/kleptog/ -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [email protected] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [email protected] Archive: http://lists.debian.org/[email protected]
