On Fri, Aug 2, 2013 at 8:41 AM, Daniel Gruno <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi dev@, > Though this is mainly a question for docs@, I thought I'd drop this > email into the dev@ list instead, since this is where I think > objections, if there are any, will arise. > > Today, on various Internet channels, I have had to do my very best to > defend the use of mod_lua, ranging from people asking if it's safe to > use to people claiming that it should never be used in a production > environment. Why? because of one word in particular: Experimental. > > In our documentation, we write the following: > ---- > mod_lua is still in experimental state. Until it is declared stable, > usage and behavior may change at any time, even between stable releases > of the 2.4.x series. Be sure to check the CHANGES file before upgrading. > ---- > > To a committer/programmer, this may seem totally sane, but to a user of > httpd - and I sincerely hope that users are our aim in the documentaion > - this wording screams "BACK OFF, this may explode at any given time!". > As a "long time" developer and user of httpd/mod_lua for both personal > and professional sites/manoeuvres/jobs, I find it sad that I have to > defend a module in otherwise perfect working condition with no > discernible faults at all, simply because of a wording that scares off > regular users of httpd. So I'd really like to change the wording into > something less scary, so users can both know that it's still in a > development phase, but it won't blow up your computer or spread germs if > you use it on a production server. > > I'd like to change the note to something along these lines: > ---- > mod_lua is in a state of continuous development. Usage > and behavior is subject to change at any time, even between stable > releases of the 2.4.x series. Be sure to check the CHANGES file before > upgrading > ---- >
That text sounds fine but I don't see that as being reassuringly non-"Experimental" from the point of an enterprise distributor or a site administrator. Given that declaration, it would be naive to make your production site dependent on a fair amount of interesting code for mod_lua unless you think you can drop everything to tweak your scripts in order to pick up a httpd security fix at some arbitrary future time, or you can watch mod_lua development steadily to be prepared ahead of time. "Status: Experimental" is the flag we have to say "watch out for this module", which seems appropriate still. > > From a programming point of view, I can understand if there are > reservations towards this change, but I ask you to look at it from a > user point of view, and I hope you'll welcome this proposal for change. > > I hope we won't have to put something as tiny as this to a vote, and if > I do not hear any strong objections within the next 72 hours, I will > assume lazy consensus and commit this change to the documentation. > > With regards, > Daniel. > -- Born in Roswell... married an alien... http://emptyhammock.com/
