Murray:
>> (2) which the current platform >> totally fails at, indicating that there isn't much consensus or >> support for it.
I disagree. I proposed formalising this because I think we are ready for it.
The GNOME platform has demonstrated a good degree of interface stability, and the documentation for platform libraries is, for the most part, in reasonable shape. There are a few issues that should be treated as bugs. There are probably a few Platform libraries that shouldn't be used by ISV's (such as ORBit2 and libbonobo), but aside from clarifying such details the platform is already Stable. The goal is not to create draconian rules that module maintainers are forced to follow, but to instead create a communication mechanism so that the GNOME desktop can more clearly describe which interfaces are intended for ISV use. Today, it simply isn't clear. The main problem is simply that the current process used to ensure interface stabiltiy and quality isn't documented. Making a policy recommending that Platform interfaces that are intended for ISV use should be well documented is a reasonable policy. Does this mean there won't be issues. No, but these can be treated like bugs just like anything else. I disagree with Mark that it is necessary for the entire Platform to become Stable before trying to define "best practices" standards or platform expectations. Some libraries in the GNOME stack meet all reasonable stability requirements and are well accepted by ISV's, such as glib and GTK+. Why not give such modules additional recognition as being "ready for ISV use" and other modules will naturally want to follow the same standards to achieve similar recognition. It might be reasonable to expect that future modules that wish to enter the platform meet such a requirement, just to set the bar in the right place from a "best practices" standpoint. The advantage is that this creates a clear communication mechanism so ISV's understand which interfaces to use. Obviously, they should be interfaces that the module maintainer believes should be ready for ISV use and agrees to document following reasonable standards. Brian _______________________________________________ desktop-devel-list mailing list [email protected] http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/desktop-devel-list
