On 22 September 2010 06:34, Trevor Parscal tparscal@wikimedia.org wrote:
In response to recent comments in our code review tool about whether some extensions should be merged into core MediaWiki, or not. I would like to try and initiate a productive conversation about this topic in hopes that we can collaboratively define a set of guidelines for evaluating when to move features out of core and into an extension or out of an extension and into core.
I'm generally against adding random extensions to the core, and there are many things I would like to rip of the core code if possible.
I don't think we can come up with any clear rules. I'd imagine the rule would just be: * if it's useful to most users (=installations) of mediawiki, add it to the core With the "most users" getting a slightly less important if the feature is small but useful.
I think that for example the new edit toolbar or one-button search are clearly such usability improvements, that only enhance existing core features and thus should be in the core, replacing the poor original ones where possible.
Maybe also code quality and stability plays a role, since making an extension is kind of like making a branch - you can develop mostly freely and nobody cares. On the other hand the extension code might also need extensive rewriting if merged to the core.
We have a quite free access policy even to the trunk code, so I do not see it as a limitation for including code in the core. On the other hand putting code in the trunk seems to be the only sure way to get your code reviewed even a little and deployed into WMF (it may still take a year).
In short: I agree keeping the core slick and clean, but I think the case is clear for (at least part of) the usability enhancements.
-Niklas