RE: A Merlin Top Level Project

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 /
+------//-------------------+


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