If nothing else they (ASF) provide a swift kick in our collective behinds when
it's needed. And it's needed rather badly right now.
The last release of Lucene.Net was 2.9.2 in May. Lucene Java 2.9.2 and 3.0.1
were released in February and 2.9.3 and 3.0.2 were released in June. It's now
November and as a community we have no clue what our current project status is.
With all due respect to the couple of very dedicated people who actively contribute,
Lucene.Net is a mess from a project management standpoint. The port from Lucene Java is a
mysterious black-box process which takes place "eventually" because one person
generously spends a huge amount of time on it in their spare time, outside of their real
job that actually pays the bills.
The gating factor for this project is the initial port by one poor soul and
then fixes to various subtle issues caused by the automated conversion.
On the subject of forking outside of ASF, one big issue is that Lucene.Net
would not exist without the fundamental work done by the gurus involved in the
Lucene Java project. I can port another developer's code all day but I sure
don't have the domain knowledge (or the interest) to get into the guts of
Lucene and actually make meaningful improvements there.
I think this recent discussion of automated porting tools is a great start
towards breathing some life back into this project. I'm hoping to play with a
couple of the tools mentioned when time permits so I can contribute to that
discussion. Hopefully if enough people are interested then we can build on that
and segment out portions of the work so that even with some overlap we are no
longer gated by the availability of a single developer.
The short term issue though is whether or not enough people are interested in
continuing this project under the umbrella of ASF and if so then, as I
understand it, there are certain basic procedures that need to be followed so
that ASF doesn't drop this technically inactive project.
Cheers,
Ben
Josh Handel wrote:
I should clarify here.. because this could sound hostal to the Apache
Foundation..
I'm not for or against saying as an Apache Project.. But the Goals of being an
Open Source port of Lucene (line for line or otherwise) can be done inside or
outside the Apache Foundation.... Ergo, rather than assume that going back to
Incubation with the hope of becoming a TLP inside the Apache Foundation is what
is best for this project, I think we should evaluate what Apache offers..
If they provide compelling resources and support that is worth more than the Political
headache and overhead, then I say we stay. However, if we are all in a tizzy to not lose
our status and all they provide is source control, a mail list, and the name
"Lucene" then I think we should be discussing if that is worth the overhead
they impose.
Josh
-----Original Message-----
From: Josh Handel [mailto:josh.han...@catapultsystems.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 02, 2010 1:02 PM
To: lucene-net-u...@lucene.apache.org
Cc: lucene-net-dev@lucene.apache.org; Lucene mailing list
Subject: RE: Lucene.NET Community Status
One thing that has yet to be answered on this list is this :
What does Apache Foundation provide, that the project does not received on its own OTHER
than the name "Lucene".. I hear a lot of what Apache requests of us, beyond
a name what the heck do they provide?
Josh
-----Original Message-----
From: Grant Ingersoll [mailto:gsing...@apache.org]
Sent: Tuesday, November 02, 2010 12:59 PM
To: lucene-net-u...@lucene.apache.org
Cc: lucene-net-dev@lucene.apache.org; Lucene mailing list
Subject: Re: Lucene.NET Community Status
On Nov 2, 2010, at 1:20 PM, Granroth, Neal V. wrote:
We've already been through this process once before. Why repeat?
Because clearly it didn't take the first time and this time the goal is to
demonstrate the community can stand on its own two feet as an Apache Top Level
Project (TLP). Last time through, the goal was to be a part of the Lucene PMC.
Given the declared interest level here, if it is indeed real, it shouldn't be a
problem to go back to the incubator with some extra helping hands, do some
real releases, learn how Apache works and then graduate to be a TLP.
-Grant
