2011/2/9 Martin Vidner <[email protected]>: > A Plan for YaST: Project Amaranth > ================================= > > Why > --- > > YaST as a platform has been stagnant for the past few years. > Half of the original team has been busy with WebYaST and other web > projects. > Since relicensing to GPL in 2004 we got very few contributions > - Benjiman's One Click Install being a notable exception > - Oracle contacted us with their patches (based on a previous > version of SLE), but we did not follow up. > Much of the code has no tests, patching it is risky. > Linux around evolves, a recent example being systemd, so YaST must > keep up. > If we don't provide a direction for YaST, it will rot and die. > > What > ---- > > Amaranth is a project to open up YaST and realize its potential: > Deprecate YCP, a custom YaST language, in favor of Ruby(*), a widespread one. > Thus gain contributors from openSUSE and possibly other distro communities. > > *) see a followup mail about the language choice > > How > --- > > Take the existing unfinished attempts yast2-ruby-bindings, > yast2-libyui, ruby-yui, bind libstorage to ruby. > > - loudly state the intent to make them usable, including a timeline (see When) > - provide good and up-to-date documentation > - integrate with the Ruby ecosystem: > -- document in form usual for Ruby developers (rdoc/yard) > -- get found at rubygems (if only as a stub to point to the real package) > - move from Subversion to Git (host at Gitorious, Github, or both) (see Why > Git) > - give good examples of usage, by converting a couple of production > YaST modules to the new platform > > When > ---- > > Have it all ready by the release of openSUSE 12.0 (November 2011) at the > latest. > Better, do it for an earlier milestone and have 12.0 feature > independent contributions. > Don't try hasty fixes for 11.4, now we still can't guarantee the > API. Possibly do a backport. > > Who > --- > > The long term goal is "hackers from around the Tux world". For now, > it's myself, looking for you, the YaST hackers, to join, and for the > team leads, project and product managers to give us time for it. > > Why Git > ------- > > Git enables fearless hacking, power to the people, easy merging. > > Code Name > --------- > > Amaranth is a purple (read .py.rb.pl) flower whose name means > 'unwithering'. The tool is still branded YaST. Amaranth is the > project to make the transition to world domination.
Why is a separate project needed? Why not combine forces with already existing mature environments? Especially when a major change is to be done anyway? I think that it can be done faster and safer if the creative forces are combined in stead of duplicating existing work. Kind regards Birger -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
