Re: [PEAR-DEV] Hosting PEAR's git repositories on git.php.net

> So, what is PEAR? A collective that cares for each other's
> packages, or a salad bowl of packages maintained by different people,
> only sharing the pear.php.net website?

I can tell you what it is in my view: A collection of packages
maintained by different people... but who not only share the
pear.php.net website, but also give feedback to other people who they
share the site with, and basically try to "police" each other when it
comes to ensuring better code quality (most notably in following the
PEAR coding standard).

It is this later characteristic that is the greatest strength, as well
as the greatest weakness of the PEAR repository - the barrier of entry
is raised higher than just "salad bowl of packages", but is lower than
"full time engagement with the whole community". The former would mean
CPAN, and the latter just wears people down after a while, making it
painful for actual maintainers (as opposed to simply one-or-few-time
contributors).

The PEAR manul however doesn't communicate this very well, which -
along with the many unmaintained/PHP4 packages - hinders PEAR's
reputation (at least as a repository) among newcomers, but that's a
separate issue.


I don't care for other people's packages, unless I'm using them or
they explicitly ask for feedback/help for something I have
opinion/experience about. And I'm perfectly aware that the "don't
care" part is mutual (I just hope the "unless" part is too). A
centralized system, or a system in which everyone receives
notifications on anything all the time doesn't change that. In fact,
it's only an annoyance.

I accept the need for a central backup node, but all other arguments
for git.php.net, at least in my opinion, fall flat.