1.4 Priorities: Github, wiki

Question

I suggest three additional priorities for Q2A 1.4

Github -- Moving the source to GitHub would enable more people to contribute to Q2A. Note that Github enables exact control over who can contribute. I recommend using the fork/integration request model.

This means that no one other than Gideon would be able to commit to the main source (same as today). But it would also enable people to propose changes. Then they send (via GitHub) a re-integration request that enables Gideon to decide, on a case-by-case basis, whether to accept the proposed update or not.

This is the same model used by the YUI team where 90% or more of the changes come from the professional Yahoo developers. But anyone can propose changes. If the changes are of sufficient quality and fit in with the goals/architecture of the software then they are accepted.

Wiki -- We need a better way to organize the documentation than simply a bunch of questions and answers. I think it would be fine to have the wiki contain a lot of links back to the questions and answers, rather than duplicating the material. Having a wiki would also enable more people to contribute via documentation.

I'd suggest that initially, authorship rights for the wiki could be limited. Or try it as a more open wiki, relying on the community to prune the spam and out of date info.

Beta test including plugin compatibility. I need time to re-integrate my Proxy SSO Plugin with the updated architecture. Hopefully it will be easier to integrate the Proxy SSO plugin with 1.4. See https://github.com/larrykluger/Question-2-Answer-Proxy-SSO-Plugin

Comments

Good idea with Github it has integrated issue tracking. :)

Answer 1

Hi Larry and thanks for your suggestions. Let me answer them in turn:

Using Github in the way you suggest is tempting, and I will give it some thought. There is still an issue with code ownership (e.g. if I decide to release a commercial version) but a contributors' agreement might solve this.

If one or more Q2A users would like to set up and maintain a wiki, I would fully support that, point the domain wiki.question2answer.org to it, and link to it prominently from the main Q2A site. Unfortunately I don't myself have the time to set up and maintain such a wiki.

Within a week or two I hope to release a developer preview of Q2A 1.4 with all the new plugin functionality supported (event modules, widget modules and theme layers) but not yet any of the other new features. So you'll be able to get started well before the public release of 1.4 and even suggest other things you might need in the plugin interfaces.

Comments

As I recall the Yahoo YUI project also requires a contributor's agreement before any Github integration requests will be considered by the team.

Re: licensing -- I believe that the MIT license would enable you to both license access to contributed sw via the web and license it, for money, for local installs. But check with a licensing expert...