From: Gawnsoft <xlucid@...>
Date: 2004-04-01T00:09:22+09:00
Subject: Re: Dormant projects (was Status of AOP in Ruby)

On Wed, 31 Mar 2004 09:38:01 GMT, Martin DeMello
<martindemello@yahoo.com> wrote (more or less):

>Simon Strandgaard <neoneye@adslhome.dk> wrote:
> 
>> Maybe one could calculate a 'dormant' value, so that visitors easily
>> can distinguish alive and kicking projects from the dead ones:
>> *  no upload via scp to the homepage.
>> *  no commits.
>> *  no file releases
>> *  no downloads
>> *  no closed tracker items.
>
>Something I suggested a package manager include is separate "last
>modified" and "last certified active" fields, so that users could
>distinguish between an abandoned/dormant project and one that was
>simply feature complete and needed no additional modifications to
>it. The "last certified active" field should be pretty trivial to
>keep updated if this is indeed an active project, and will handle
>the (somewhat disconcerting) case of libraries that have modified
>dates several years old, but which are in reality perfectly alive
>and being used.

Sounds good to me.

If there's a programmatic 'ping'  (with a default of every three or
four (or six or eight) months) to the last registered keeper.

System has a default period, project leader can override with
whichever value s/he prefers, up to say 12 months max.

The minimum should be a quick check back over the project's listing
entry/ homepage, and a confirmation of 

'yep, it's dormant because it'd sufficiently feature-complete.'

'it's dormant because I've done all I want to, but it's /mine/
goddammit, so non-one else touch'

'it's dormant because I've ended having my time gobbled up by other
demands - and you know what, thinking about it, I reckon I'm not going
to have any time to devote for quite a while longer.  Best if any
interested party takes it on for a while'

'it's dormant because I've ended having my time gobbled up by other
demands - and I just haven't had time to let anyone know that I don't
have any time to spare for it'

It's these last categories that I'd like to trap - the projects which
are useful and extendable, but which the originators haven't realised
have been de facto abandoned, or have been abandoned without there
being spare attention & time to notify the community.

And for these categories, I think it's better the project repositories
track the dormant time and  prompt the project leaders, than we expect
the leaders to track dormancy.


Cheers, 
   Euan
Gawnsoft: http://www.gawnsoft.co.sr
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