On 05/15/2013 04:55 PM, Terry Chay wrote:
Once a project has reached a certain level of
maturity, any unnecessary
documentation can be disposed of. Our process as it stands today doesn't
allow us to be free of things like Gerrit, Bugzilla or wiki, but being
able to let go of the unnecessary should be our goal. I like to think of
these tools like writing on a napkin, it's okay at a certain time in the
development process, but I wouldn't want everything we do to *require* a
napkin doodling before implementation. ;-)
I agree the code should be self-documenting where possible, but
coordination tools like Bugzilla, and various kinds of documentation
(API docs like jsduck/PHPDoc, design docs, end user docs) are still
necessary.
In the case of
Mingle/Trello specifically these are closed source
(possibly externally-hosted)
software infrastructure pieces that we, as
a Foundation, do not want to have an ongoing dependence on. During
project creation and early development, the deadline-formation and other
management tasks these afford are sometimes necessary in commercial
space but do not really exist in all-volunteer open-source efforts, so
some degree of dependence when there aren't open-source solutions
becomes a necessary evil for that time in our project development.
However, an ongoing dependence on these tools would become a wall
prohibiting certain members of our community from being able to fully
participate in, and that would be contrary to our commitment.
I agree these tools are problematic for this reason. I understand why
some people currently choose to use them, but the Foundation should
investigate free alternatives that can meet our projects' needs.
Matt Flaschen