[
https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/THRIFT-5113?page=com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.issuetabpanels:comment-tabpanel&focusedCommentId=17045844#comment-17045844
]
Mario Emmenlauer commented on THRIFT-5113:
------------------------------------------
[~ctubbsii] I can relate to what you say about the danger of fracturing the
community with too many communication platforms. This is contrary to my
intentions.
I can also understand that certain policies are in place by i.e. Apache that
need to be respected.
However I'd like to express a concern about the current outside presentation of
the project. I'm under the impression that thrift is not as approachable as it
could be. I've personally made the experience on various occasions how
challenging it can be to engage with the project. Foremost, the documentation
is scattered or non-existing. I stared off of the outdated Javadocs at
[https://people.apache.org/~thejas/thrift-0.9/javadoc/] that seem largely
unmaintained. I don't know whether there are policies in place that limit the
options for publishing auto-generated API docs for thrift. But I've seen with
some frustration that up-to-date docs can be generated with the build for
various thrift languages, but they are just not published. It was almost a year
after my first start with thrift that I "discovered" the doc artifacts in the
build system. I've now opened THRIFT-5112 in the hope that the auto-generated
API documentation would be put up on an easy-to-find public web page like
github pages. This would immensely help novices to get started with thrift.
Furthermore, I think it would help if the static documentation, that is
currently scattered between [https://thrift.apache.org/] and the github
markdown files (like [https://github.com/apache/thrift/tree/master/lib/nodejs])
could be unified in a single place (for example github pages or the github
markdown pages).
Last, not least, I think mailing lists are great for asynchronous
communication. I personally prefer them over web-based chats. But then I'm a
different generation, and I must admit that mailing lists are not very well
suited for small questions that novice users have. The mailing list archives
are extremely resourceful, but I've come to learn that the current generation
of computer scientists is largely unaware that this resource even exists and
where to look for it. I also think they are largely under-represented on the
thrift websites. Furthermore, the hurdle to subscribe to an anonymous list and
the interaction with mailman can put users off, much more than the quick and
easy entering of a web-based chat.
Cutting a long story short, I'm saddened by the impression that the very great
Apache thrift project falls behind inferior tools that are easier for users to
approach. I will not be able to invest significantly into this but if anything.
But even more so it would be great if the entry barrier for contributions would
be as low as possible. Then I'd happily add my two cents.
> Web-based developer and user chat?
> ----------------------------------
>
> Key: THRIFT-5113
> URL: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/THRIFT-5113
> Project: Thrift
> Issue Type: Wish
> Reporter: Mario Emmenlauer
> Priority: Minor
>
> I think it would be very helpful if there where a developer chat, where users
> and developers could ask questions and get (sometimes) a response with
> shorter turnaround times and less overhead. Is this something thrift
> developers could consider?
> An often-used web-based chat with little overhead that integrates well with
> github is [https://gitter.im/]. There are already a significant number of
> Apache projects present:
> * [https://gitter.im/apache/home]
> Relates to THRIFT-5112
--
This message was sent by Atlassian Jira
(v8.3.4#803005)
