Re: past and future of mlton.org

On Tue, Mar 2, 2010 at 9:49 PM, Adam Goode <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Some advantages:
>> * SVN or Mercurial for project code
>>  * web interface (google custom, not ViewCVS)
>> * Project wiki with a subset of MoinMoin markup (would make copying
>> existing wiki relatively easy)
>> * Integrated issue tracker

I don't find the advantages list here to be very compelling. The only
real plus is the issue tracker. We already have something better than
or equal to the other advantages. AFAICS, the main point is just the
relief of administrative burden.

>> Some disadvantages:
>> * Possible code license issue; Google Code requires choosing one of a
>> small number of open source licenses, including MIT License and New
>> BSD License
>> * Project membership iff code access and wiki access; i.e., no
>> fine-grain permissions.  [Probably not a major issue; few wiki edits
>> from non developers.]
>> * Project wiki loses some of our useful MoinMoin extensions (links to
>> SVN revisions/files, (good) SML code formatting, SML code pulled from
>> SVN, ...)
>> * Dispersal of URLs: mlton.org for mailing lists, mlton.org for one
>> site, mlton.googlecode.com/ for source repository,
>> code.google.com/p/mlton for project wiki, issue tracker, etc.

Aside from the license issue, all these other disadvantages could be
lumped under 'loss of control'. By going with a large-scale project
website it's a 'take it or leave it' proposition. We only get the
features they offer. I imagine that as time moves on, other things
will be added to this list.

So I think the main point is: administrative burden vs. ability to
customize the site.

Which part of the administration is the most work? Keeping the system
up-to-date or dealing with issues or something else? If the
up-to-dateness is a problem, moving to a shared server (non VPS)
relieves that issue (I offered this before). The number of issues we
get with a googlecode solution may be reduced, but the remaining
issues might be largely unsolvable.

All in all, though: rather than invest time in moving mlton.org, how's
about a new release? :D