Niclas, I'm just getting started (and in the middle of a storm, so it seems), so I'm still trying to figure all this out. Perhaps you can help.
Until now, I had thought that Avalon and Merlin necessarily worked together. Can one actually use Avalon without a component container like Merlin? I understand your motivations for this and it seems to make sense, but could you explain a little more about the boundries and reponsibilties of Avalon and Merlin? In any case, my opinion is that it's important to get the infighting over with as quickly as possible. A few healthy academic discussions are necessary from time to time, but it sounds like things have degenerated beyond that. > -----Original Message----- > From: Niclas Hedhman [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: July 22, 2004 10:43 > To: Avalon Users > Subject: A Merlin Top Level Project > > > > Hi everyone. > > This mail is directed to EVERY USER of Merlin, if you just > starting out, half > way ahead and experienced, _please_ read and respond. > > == Abstract == > Avalon has yet again been under fire for making too much changes > to the Avalon > Legacy (read Framework, site and documentation), what constitutes > compatible > changes and how these changes are perceived by the > Avalon-dependees, such as > Excalibur, Cocoon, James and Loom. The aftermath of this last > storm, makes > _me_ believe that Avalon should NOT be the home of Merlin, and I > am lobbying > for the support of a Merlin Top Level Project. > > == Purpose == > Merlin is so much more than what the founders of Avalon > anticipated, and the > Merlin committer crew (esp. myself, Steve, Alex, and Timmothy) feels that > there are an unnecessary restrictions on how we can evolve > Merlin, without > creating fear at the other projects depending on Avalon. > > We think it is better for Merlin to be a user of Avalon Framework, like > Excalibur, Loom, James and Cocoon are, without any special privileges or > obligations. > > The Merlin committers wants to forge ahead with a vision of a serious > alternative/compliment to J2EE, where component oriented > programming finally > gets to its full potential as an efficiency enabler. > > We want to send a clear message that Merlin is not a 'project' > shuffled into a > backyard called Avalon, but that it is a serious _product_, on > par with other > ambitious products in ASF like Geronimo, Cocoon and Eve. Avalon > have lately > had as many or more web site visitors[1] than high profile projects like > Struts, Tomcat and Ant. This is a sign that there is a strong > interest out > there, and that we need to channel this interest into a stronger > community. > > I think that a Merlin Top Level Project is due, the technology > and community > is mature, the increased visibility will spark even higher interests, and > that we can accelerate the development of the platform better without the > concerns of Avalon legacy. > > The Merlin committer crew is also determined to increase the frequency of > releases, especially on facilities and generic components. Less > of our energy > will be spent on the 'infamous in-fightings of Avalon', and we > can serve the > community better. > > > == Mitigation of Consequence to Users == > This will not be a pain-free exercise. > If we are granted "The Apache Merlin project" > (http://merlin.apache.org), we > will most probably be required to change the codebase package names. > > However, I hope that we will be able to bridge the inconvenience for the > "Facilities Users", who would have wrong classnames for the facility > declaration, so that Merlin will explicitly recognize both namespaces for > some time, and generate a deprecation warning. > > Native normal components would work as without change. > > Blocks (aggregated components, i.e. block.xml files) should also > work without > change. > > Applications that embedds Merlin is the only major area, where we can't > provide a smooth transition. I.e. import statements will have to > change, but > with modern IDEs (alt. some script files), the work would be > fairly straight > forward and quick. > > > == YOUR action is required == > > I NEED you to respond to this mail. If you like the sound of this > idea, just > send a mail to the list saying exactly that. If you think this is > not a good > idea, please express that too, to this list. This is not a vote, > just a call > for support. > > The more support I can rally from the users, the more likely the > proposal will > be viewed positively by the ASF Board, whio ultimately decides on this. > > > Cheers > Niclas > > [1] > Daily stats (90 days): > http://reverycodes.com/apache/stats/stats.pl?type=projects&day=&mo nth=&year=&interval=day&periods=90&projects=ant&projects=avalon&projects=str uts&projects=tomcat Monthly stats (6 months): http://reverycodes.com/apache/stats/stats.pl?type=projects&day=&month=&year= &interval=month&periods=6&projects=ant&projects=avalon&projects=struts&proje cts=tomcat -- +------//-------------------+ / http://www.bali.ac / / http://niclas.hedhman.org / +------//-------------------+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
