On 12/28/05, Adam Winer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Can you explain this a bit further?  I'm concerned about the
> practical aspects given that we already have an existing team
> of developers here at Oracle.  Let's assume that John and I
> have become committers.  The practical effect of denying
> any grandfathering is that anyone at my team can still effectively
> check in, but I get stuck with the job of doing all the grunt work -
> they bug me, hand me some code, and say "Check it in, Adam".
> That's not a particularly effective use of my time. :(

I have been working under the belief that there were already MyFaces
committers that were willing to work with the ADF codebase. If there
are other developers who want to help with that work, then they can
start by contributing in the usual way, through mailing list posts and
patches. When those contributions are sustained and significant, we
decide whether to offer a contributor karma.

But, if the donation is going to be dependant on the help of corporate
developers on the Oracle payroll, then I would be -1 on accepting the
donation. I expect that every other ASF Member would feel the same
way.

>
> It's also not especially great that we temporarily lose any ability
> to do anything with our own source - we give the code, but at
> first none of us can check in *anything* until one by one we're
> approved?
>
> Skipping an incubator phase also means that there's no period
> where the existing MyFaces committers can say "nope, that's gotta
> change" - I'm sure there'll be some things that come up when more
> eyeballs get on it.  Otherwise, the only way I can see to get any
> MyFaces committers to see the code is with NDAs, so they can
> see it while it's still Oracle IP - I don't think any of us want to go
> that route.

Personally, I don't believe it's appropriate to think of the Incubator
as a place to develop a codebase or a community. It's a place where we
vet existing IP and communities. If the  MyFaces community, as it
stands today, is not up to the challenge of working with this
codebase, then perhaps it's better that we pass on it for now.

The other ADF developers have had months and months to become involved
in MyFaces. If they have not become involved by now, I would question
whether these developers are sincerely interested in the codebase and
our community, or just after a paycheck. If it's  latter, then we
should pass on their help and look for more suitable volunteers. If
there are no other volunteers to work on this codebase, then the
donation must not be a good fit for the Foundation. We expect that our
codebases can outlive the interest of their creators. If that is not
true of ADF, then it does not belong here.

>
> A basic question:  are you saying that you prefer that we don't
> go through an incubator, or saying that incubator isn't an option
> at all?

Given the IP Clearance track, I myself would *not* be willing to
shepard this codebase through a podling process. I think the desire to
be a podling first is a signal that the community is not ready to
accept this donation after all.

-Ted.

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