Hi everybody!
In my opinion there is still a big problem with the open source development
model that is used for the build service: If you want to attract external
developers to work on that project then you should put _everything_ you plan
to release as open source _as early as possible_ to the public svn repository
(i.e. _now_).
You should even do this if the code you are hacking is incomplete and
unusable. I mean a public repository is no shop window for doing marketing but
something to coordinate development work. If you always wait putting stuff
into public visibility until you consider it having reached a certain level of
completeness, you might impress some people that want to use the tool but you
are unlikely to attract external developers.
There should never be such comments in the repository like "to be checked in
by xxx next week" because if you check it in _now_ even when it is incomplete,
potential external developers could see it growing and later start to
contribute. If you again wait with releasing it until it has grown fat and
ugly, potential developers will be scared away because reading and
understanding other's code needs some time. If external developers get the
impression that they are always trying to understand code that was already
obsoleted by other code that the internal developer is currently working on
(again behind the curtain) then (s)he is likely to lose interest in working on
that project.
If you have legal problems to release something, then _explain_ the situation
and don't leave the situation that you don't take your plan to run an _open_
project serious.
Robert
--
Robert Schiele Tel.: +49-621-181-2214
Dipl.-Wirtsch.informatiker mailto:rschiele@uni-mannheim.de
"Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur."