Re: Eaten by the Tiger? Open Source WO is coming...

Am 31.08.2005 um 01:29 schrieb Helge Hess:

> On 30. Aug 2005, at 22:57 Uhr, Nat! wrote:
>
>> So I can't give you an analysis of what is specifically lacking in  
>> GDL2 and AJR, just my judgement from memory.
>>
>
> "judgement from memory" would be fine for me.

I already gave you my judgement. I won't write you a public project  
or code critique about GDL2 or AJR on a mailing list. That would lead  
to no good, just a long mailing list thread.

>
>> Also things have changed quite a bit at least with respect to AJR,  
>> so it wouldn't even be helpful today.
>>
>
> It definitely would be! I don't think that neither AJR nor GDL2  
> advanced so much that the reasoning doesn't apply anymore. Do you  
> disagree?

Yes, AJR has changed its structure and API fundamentally. I remember  
Mont entered the project around the same time I looked at it and  
subsequently did a lot of work. If I were to start again today, I  
would be much more likely to contribute to or fork off AJR.

>
>
>> The general reasoning for starting with EOAccess was
>>
>
> Well, the question was not the level you started at but *why* you  
> started instead of reusing the existing EOAccess. Was that just NIH  
> (perfectly understandable for me ;-) or were there other reasons?
>

I stated the various aspects that lead to that decision (see below).  
The NIH you might subsume under the aspect "business issues".

>> I started extending GDL2 and then AJR to get a feeling, for what  
>> is there and what wasn't there and the quality of the code base. I  
>> judged how much effort it would be to extend or rewrite the code  
>> base vs. rewriting it from scratch.

The overall question was: Will reuse save me time ?

>>
>> The decision was fairly multi-facetted and not just based on a  
>> comparison of estimated useful existing code lines vs. expected  
>> number of needed code lines. There were also cooperation, testing  
>> and migration issues considered.

These aspects then deal with, how could reuse save or waste time ?

>> And last but not least there were also business issues to consider.

This aspect deals with the implications of contributing to an open  
source project and not owning your code.

I could have spared me that effort, couldn't I ? As you know, "Aber  
das bedeutet harte Arbeit. Das schätzen wir nicht.". By that same  
line of reasoning, I don't write by own Blogger for instance :)

Ciao
     Nat!
------------------------------------------------------
A good dog, though a fool.
Who wants a smart dog!  -- R.A. Lafferty