Please, keep in mind that I'm not suggesting that we nuke the JCA. I simply said that for *add-ons* it could be removed. That's it, nothing else.After reading this thread, I tend to see JCA mostly as a defensive barrier bulid by a big corporation with legal concerns. This is definitely a barrier for newcomers, but may have a lot of sense for teh core codebase.
I do wholeheartly agree with you Daniel that JCA is not appropriate for add-ons. Regarding your proposed "testing" release, I see it not like a kind of "stabilized" developing branch. I would think of this "testing" more like a "OOExtras/OOMacros included" site.
A distribution of OOo based on latest _stable_ and with submitted macros and add-ons alarady applied. Ideally, with a way to "customize" the download on the fly: Let say you offer a web interface to choose Base+macros 1,5&7, and addons 2,4,6. You download base installer, and the "patch aplicator" that runs automatically (not know if dreaming)
I see that basing "testing" on development branch will always result in a highly unstable system, and just unusable for long periods of time (when early after a mayor code rewrite).
I think that in this other way new functional additions by the community could be tested and polled (if one macro/addon is widely used, you have a quantitative basis to support claims for inclusion on core codebase). Individual contributors are more likeky to add small self-contained functionality, but often very useful. Once the functionality has proved useful in this "testing" release then it could be incorporated into codebase. Perhaps with a total rewriting, but I think that many steps of the Sun enginering process would be speed up by having a functional prototype working. (It is not as in: "I want word-count", and then "no, not _that_ word-count, this other way"; but as in "RFE: this is the BASIC working prototype, rewite to do the same in C++")
This "testing" site should have any legalese needed to warn that it include third-party, non-Sun developements etc: "use at you own risk"
Only after a macro/add-on is accepted and decided to be incorporated into OOo main code base, *then*, teh author could be rquested to sign the JCA. It is very different physologically to have to sign first, without any chance of getting work included, than been asked permission to include actually use it.
cheers, Enrique
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