[Phpgroupware-developers] A good thing: eGroupWare fork of phpGroupWare

[Dan Kuykendall]

Patrick Walsh (mr_e) wrote:

>    *low whistle*
>
>    I wish it hadn't come to this.
-----------------------------------------------------

I have stated this on chats a few times, but I figure I might as well 
say this once more for everyone.

Im am very glad this has happened.
phpGW has not been a fun project to deal with for awhile because its a 
constant fight to do anything, and to keep things from going nuts.
The forces of difficulty are now forking off to implement their vision, 
and now leave us to become a "TEAM" again and push forward with our vision.

Having these guys leave makes me feel like I would have fun coding for 
phpGW again. As far as I see the remaining team are all in general 
agreement on issues and direction of the project and no longer have to 
waste time trying to bridge gaps with opposing forces.

Things actually seem to be falling together very well on all fronts. 
Heres how I see it:

1) We are only days away from getting 0.9.16 released. This will quickly 
be followed up with the standard bug fix release.

2) With 0.9.16 out we can refocus on HEAD code and maturing the design 
and core of phpGW. This includes more XML and XSL implementation, better 
SOAP/XMLRPC support and just overall cleanup, performance improvements 
and nifty new features.

3)  This is now a perfect time to get the CT moving. I think part of the 
problem with the way the CT was being structured was as a power grab. in 
large part those that are forking wanted the CT in place to allow them 
have some "power". I think now the CT can be formed and actually provide 
"Coordination".
To me the CT (Coordination Team) is not about *power*, but instead its 
to help coordinate the project. Part of what the CT members will do is 
choose players to manage the various parts of the project. Example would 
be a Documentation Coordinator. This person would be in charge of 
managing the efforts of everyone who wants to contribute in the 
documentation efforts. This person would talk with doc writers and find 
out their needs and issues. He would organize these and bring them to 
the table of the CT in a way that allows discussions and descisions to 
progress quickly by keeping down the number of players involved in the 
debates. This allows each segment of the project to have a 
representative to work with. A manager who is aware of all things about 
their assigned area.
I think this is a good chance for the Coordination Team to be focused on 
coordinating the project and not on silly power plays.

4) The Founding four are becoming active again. I have been lurkng 
about, but as mentioned I just havent been motivated to do much within 
the project. I have spent the last year doing lots of cool experimental 
versions of parts of phpGW, but havent wanted to hassle feeding it back 
into the project and have to deal with all the constant fighting. Ceb, 
who has always maintained a pretty active presence has recently gotten 
skeeter back into the game, which is a very great thing for the project. 
I have recently hired jengo full time to work for me at NT OBJECTives, 
and I will soon be assigning a part of his work hours to phpGW stuff. 
Out buiness has nothing to do with phpGW, but its a good way to keep his 
skills sharp and his mind from getting tunnel vision working soley on 
NTO code.

I think that as the CT elections and organization crazyness gets worked 
out, we will be in a position to really get this project moving forward 
and exciting to be a part of, as it once was.

Dan Kuykendall, aka Seek3r