And for a lot more along the lines of what Ken is mentioning -- this post by Larry Garfield is a great intro to building reusable building blocks: http://www.palantir.net/blog/building-sustainable-building-blocks
--Kyle Mathews kyle.mathews2000.com/blog http://twitter.com/kylemathews On Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 8:57 AM, Ken Rickard <[email protected]> wrote: > In this case, I think the real trick for giving back is to try to > avoid one-off custom solutions, and instead try (as best you can for > each project) to patch or extend existing projects. > > That said, we have a 'custom' module installed by default on all new > projects, and lots of one-off code invariably gets in there. > > But here's a concrete example: I got very tired of using the theme > layer to code links to custom paths in Views. The result: > http://drupal.org/node/349178, which went into the core Views module > (and merlinofchaos spiced up with added layers of awesome). > > If one such patch comes out of each project (or, say, if you managed > to close 2 issues in the core issue queue per project) then you're > giving back. The key, for me, is not coding in a vacuum that ignores > improvements to core and features in contrib. > > - Ken > agentrickard > > On Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 10:09 AM, Robert Douglass<[email protected]> > wrote: > > You lazy blood sucking pig! (did that confirm your worst fears? ;-) > > > > I think you describe what is actually the _typical_ Drupal developer - > > the vast majority of people doing Drupal development work just like you > > describe, and there's nothing wrong with that. Not everyone is going to > > be able to be a module maintainer, for one reason or another, and that's > > fine. > > > > If you want to release your code and hope that it takes a life of its > > own, write blog posts about it, attach the zip file, and make sure it > > gets aggregated by Drupal Planet. You can add lots of caveats like > > "Needs cleaning up, needs install and uninstall routines, has some > > specific settings that could use an admin settings page." Make sure it > > is GNU 2.0 licensed from the start. In doing this you'll help others > > while helping yourself. You'll help others by making the code available, > > in case it's useful for them, and you'll help yourself by having useful > > information and code on your development blog which will further your > > reputation and bring you the next round of great clients. Plus you may > > even get feedback that will lead to better code. > > > > Thanks for sharing this concern. I wonder how many people on this list > > feel guilty because they feel they "haven't contributed enough"? > > > > -Robert > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Sam Polenta <[email protected]> > > Reply-to: [email protected] > > To: [email protected] > > Subject: [development] Why I don't Upload a Module to Drupal > > Date: Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:57:22 +0300 > > > > I have made a few custom modules for clients. Some of them maybe other > > people would want. I would be happy to give them to whoever wants > > them, BUT it's not necessarily so simple as that. > > > > Mostly they have some customization for the particular site so I would > > have to generalize them like with a settings page etc. Then I would > > have to clean up the code a bit. Some would need an install and > > uninstall routine which I didn't do because it's only for one site > > anyway. > > > > I would be happy even, in theory, to release them on drupal.org but > > aside from the time to prepare them, which I don't really have, I also > > don't have time to support them. So I figure even if I did fix it up a > > bit and put it online, I am then expected to support it. I am not a > > lazy person nor do I just suck the blood of everyone else who > > contributes to Drupal without giving back. I do try to help people on > > the forums a bit and the truth is that I help to "make the world a > > better place" in other ways. I volunteer at a local NPO to help > > people--when I sit down at the computer, it's mostly to work. I need > > to make a living and this is how I do it. > > > > So I don't think I'm a total pig--not at all really because I do > > volunteer my time, but just for other causes aside from Drupal. > > > > Do people think my reasons are wrong for not releasing my code? I > > guess the main thing is that I'm not prepared to support any issues or > > requests etc. that may come up. > > > > Thanks. > > > > > > > > -- > Ken Rickard > [email protected] > http://ken.therickards.com >
