Hello Avaloners. Some Background ===============
There was once strong support within Avalon and amongst the Merlin developers for a Merlin TLP. The proposal bumped into a number of roadblocks and was consequently dropped. However, one of the motivations for a Merlin TLP was to allow the Merlin developers to move forward without carrying any "legacy baggage." Another motivation was that developers and users who happen to depend on that baggage were concerned about how it was going to be handled with the majority of active Avalon developers focused on Merlin. This was especially true since those who had generally maintained this software would be busy with Excalibur. Out First Test ============== With the launch of the new website came our -- the "avant-garde" Avalon team to steal Timothy's words -- first test in how we would handle balancing concerns of "legacy" Avalon users with our own concerns of moving Avalon forward. We failed. While we've finally started to work towards a compromise and actual resolution about framework documentation and standing (ie- the "Category" idea) the initial reaction we had to anyone questioning Avalon's plans and roadmap were abominable. Think of it as customer service: here come our long time users and customers and we don't even politely listen to their concerns. We insult them and tell them to get with the program. Solutions? ========== So what are we going to do about it? What about next time? Is this what is going to happen every time someone disagrees with the Avant-Garde Avalon? Is this how we are going to resolve concerns? I believe we can all do better. I know I can. Here are some of my thoughts about action we can take: * We can try to further separate code and communities. Remove stewardship of the Avalon Framework from the Avant-Garde Avalon team. This could mean finding a more neutral or friendly place for the framework (a commons or maybe Excalibur) or it could mean finding fresh space for an Avant- Garde Avalon by incubating Melrin as a TLP. There appears to be new support for such a move. * We can improve how Avalon internally handles the framework and matters surrounding legacy Avalon. This might involve partitioning our site and source repository. It might mean just changing some attitudes. We're all smart people here. There's got to be a way we can handle this better. Thoughts? J. Aaron Farr SONY ELECTRONICS STP SYSTEMS (724) 696-7653 --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
