RE: Open source WO - offer

Can you give us any examples of an open source project where this has
happened?  I don't mean a crap open source project, there are plenty of
those, I mean a good piece of software that was ruined by the "unwashed
masses fiddling with it."  Just because a project is open source doesn't
mean anyone can show up and make changes to the main source tree, or
appropriate the name of the project.

For example, I'm free to download the source code to Tapestry, make changes
to it and publish those changes as a fork or patch or whatever.  But I can't
just check my changes back into the Tapestry source control server, nor can
I represent my changed version as the real Tapestry.  HLS and whoever else
at Apache get to make those decisions.  The same will no doubt be true
if/when Apple open sources WebObjects, just as is currently the case for
Apple's other open source proejcts (Darwin, WebKit, etc.)

Bruce

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of
[email protected]
Sent: Saturday, September 02, 2006 7:09 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: Open source WO - offer

Hello Marc;

> lack of access to the core of WebObjects means long-standing bugs may 
> continue to go unfixed, and add-ons remain just that, without a chance 
> of being better integrated into the core of the system.

I absolutely cannot see why people actually want AJAX, SOAP etc..  
built into the core of the WO infrastructure!  Unless it is done perfectly,
it is truly horrible to work with.  I suspect that the core of WO (app/EO
framework) will stand the test of time and these ancillary features are very
very much better suited to being framework add-ons that can be detached
without pain at some later date.

I really worry about the concept of WO being open-sourced for exactly the
reason that some inexperienced developer out there will come up with a
spiffy idea to change the core system or build in some fashionable
technology without taking the time and effort to get it perfect.  Because of
this, I suspect that it will turn to custard if the unwashed masses are
allowed to fiddle with it.

cheers.

___
Andrew Lindesay
www.lindesay.co.nz



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