Re: [Geoserver-devel] Considering a port of the CSS module to Java

[Andrea A. <and...@ge...>]

On Thu, May 30, 2013 at 4:03 PM, Justin Deoliveira <jde...@op...>wrote:

> If i recall the conversation correctly it seemed like there was an
> informal consensus that only the core of GeoServer be kept to pure java. My
> opinion was that extensions or community modules could be implemented in
> other languages as long as those modules had a stable maintainer.
>

Yes, I've been explaining this in detail to the potential sponsor, but they
want to prepare the module for core. Citing their response to my
explanation that a Scala module can be made an extension, verbatim:

"Yes, think it should be rewritten in Java so most developers in the team
can potentially understand the code when it is an extension, and so that it
can potentially be promoted to core"


>
> On one hand as a newbie to scala I can appreciate a pure java port as it
> would allow me to contribute more efficiently. On the other hand I think
> this sets a bad precedent. We have an active maintainer who is maintaining
> a module that has more than a handful of users. I certainly can't speak for
> David in this case but if i were contributing to a project that did this to
> me I wouldn't be a contributor for very long.
>

Active maintainer is a bit of a stretch, as the module is in unsupported
land and as such, by definition, unmaintained.
It's up to David to decide whether to push the module to extension, so far
he did not feel like doing so.
I'm the last person that wants to push contributors out of the door, but if
we want to grab this funding opportunity and make CSS a supported module,
with a strong possibility for core inclusion (once in extension, the
blockers to core would be its Scala status and a check on the user base,
which seems to be already appreciating the module) later down the road,
what alternatives are there?
I'm fully open to suggestions (I mean it) :-)

Cheers
Andrea

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