On Thu, 02 Sep 2004 01:03:27 -0500 Nolan Eakins <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 > > Will Kamishlian wrote: > > My inability to document the Jabberd 2 code base has been an continual > > frustration for me. When I started jabberdoc, I intended for it to be > > half admin guide and half developer guide. Thus, after the work I've > > put in, I still see it as only half finished. > > Do your docs describe Jabberd 2's database structure? I haven't entirely > made head or tails of how all the tables work together just from looking > at them. There's nothing about database structure in my doc's that couldn't be achieved by spending a few minutes at a MySQL console. > > Documenting the code base for a one-person project is difficult. I > > could document the Jabberd 2 code base; however, I would need someone > > who could walk the code with me (because I cannot read C). Given the > > scarcity of resources on the project, anyone who could do that would > > need to devote limited time that could otherwise be spent writing code > > or fixing bugs. > > Learn to read C. Good code documents itself. I've actually started to do that; however, my efforts have been half-hearted because I wonder if it's worth a huge time investment. I could learn to read C; however, the Jabberd 2 code base is not a starter project. My primary concern is that if I wrote it, would they (developers) come? My second concern is that at the moment, it seems that I would be working alone. Even having a friend to bounce things off of would help; however, none of my friends code C. Lastly, I doubt that I will ever code C, nor is it likely that I will need to document it professionally, so I'd need to feel very confident that the time investment would pay off for Jabberd 2. > > In my mind, the question remains as to why these projects have been > > one-person projects. I feel that the implementation language is part > > of the problem. Lack of official sponsorship from the JSF may be > > another. Lack of financial sponsorship may be a third issue, and from > > what I read, financial support is not likely to change soon. > > One problem with financial sponsorship is who's going to pay for it? The > JSF? Where's the JSF going to get money? Jabber, Inc.? They're not going > to shoot themselves in the foot by paying for a free server. Other > people around the JSF need to start making some money from Jabber. Only > then will"we depend on jabberd, we better hire some one to work on it" > become a reality. > > > Did the Apache, Mozilla, and RedHat project leaders have any other > > advice on how to attract and retain contributors for collaborative OS > > projects? I suspect there is a lot of accumulated wisdom among these > > leaders -- it never ceases to amaze me how these large OS projects > > have so many active contributors, each of which plays a specific role. > > I'm going to take a guess--money. I imagine major contributors to the > large OS projects one way or another benefit from them enough that they > invest in them. Money never hurts; however, I have to believe that there are large-scale collaborative OS projects that have limited funding. Perhaps Apache, Mozilla and Redhat are not good examples. -Will _______________________________________________ jdev mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://jabberstudio.org/mailman/listinfo/jdev
