RE: A Merlin Top Level Project

Hi Niclas,

Well - I've been snooping around this mailing list for some time, and while
I am not an active submitter here I definitely have to support this
proposal.  It seems like a constructive way to ensure a high q alternative
to J2EE.

Anyway - without going into futher details - you have my full support on
this one.

Regards,

	Lars Boegild Thomsen

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Niclas Hedhman [mailto:[email protected]]
> Sent: 22 July 2004 11:36
> To: [email protected]
> 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=struts&project
s
=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&projec
t
s=tomcat


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 / http://niclas.hedhman.org /
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