[Phpwebsite-developers] Goals and Philosophy

[Brian W. B. <br...@tu...>]

Developers:

In light of some rather heated discussions on the SF forums as
of late, I feel the need to clarify the goals and philosophy
of the phpWebSite project. Our first goal is to foster an
open, healthy, helpful, and most of all, a cooperative
development environment. Until recently, this has been
universally true. Whatever phpWebSite was or was not, everyone
involved got along and everyone tried to help each other and
learn from each other. Quite frankly, it saddens me to see the
kind of behavior I have witnessed recently. Our second goal is
to create a flexible content management system that enables
non-technical people to effectively manage information on the
web. Make no mistake - these goals are in the proper order. It
should also be noted that the the word "cooperative" is not a
synonym for "submissive". Active discussion within our
community is not only tolerated, but encouraged.

Active discussion, however, requires that those involved
maintain respect for each others ideas, and that the
individuals involved simply be polite. It is an unfortunate
reality that the primary means by which we communicate within
this community - email and forums - easily add a sharp edge to
words that would be softened by the tongue. For this reason,
it is important that we make the effort to communicate not
only clearly, but gently. The irony in this case was that some
very valid ideas and opinions (on both sides) were grossly
overshadowed by the tone of delivery.

For those involved in the thread and for those who followed it
in morbid curiosity, let me quickly address a few major
points:

o "Data Packing" is strongly discouraged. Smart data
structures and dumb code works better than the other way
around.

o Class serialization is also strongly discouraged and will
not be stored in the database in serialized form.

o Serialized arrays can be stored in the database under
certain well-defined, limited circumstances.

Please note that this discussion is still open, and Matt and I
will post an official policy once we feel we have something
everyone can live with. If you have any thoughts, ideas, or
solutions you would like to share, please email Matt or
myself.

I would also like to clarify that those of us employed by
Appalachian State University must maintain a balance of
responsibilities in our work with the phpWebSite project. This
has always seemed to be readily apparent to me, but based
various comments about the University's role in the project
there would seem to be some fundamental misunderstandings in
this regard. The University neither blindly supports
phpWebSite, caring not whether development efforts serve the
institution, nor is phpWebSite an exclusive University project
that limits non-university developers to voyeuristic
participation. The truth is more complicated and lives in the
middle of these two extremes.

The balance we seek is best illustrated by a very real example
from the project. More than once we have been criticized for
not testing phpWebSite on multiple platforms or for saying
that we cannot duplicate a reported problem. We run campus
installs of phpWebSite on Red Hat Linux Servers running
Apache, PHP, and MySQL Max. Our compile options for PHP are on
the web. This works for us, and this is the platform on which
we test. Freely spending money and resources by testing
configurations and platforms that we have no intention of
using in a production environment would very simply not be in
the best interest of the institution, our students, or the
hard-working tax payers (i.e. *you*) that support this
institution and others like it. If, on the other hand, someone
wishing to use a different platform provided the development
team with code that had been successfully tested on other
platforms, it would certainly be incorporated. Please
understand that those associated with the university are
trying only to be responsible, but that does not necessarily
limit in any way the scope of contribution by those that wish
to participate in the project.

Finally, I would like to say that I see phpWebSite as being on
the cusp of becoming a truly great software package. Matt
McNaney's work on the updated core is impressive and will
allow phpWebSite to become truly modular. Making phpWebSite
what you need it to be will only become easier for both the
developer and the user. If you have not taken a look at the
updated core, code named "fallout" - please do, it is the
future of phpWebSite. The 0.8.2 release is getting very close
and should provide a stable resting point while the
integration of the updated core begins in earnest.

On a more personal note, I feel the need to share some of the
circumstances that have limited my direct participation in the
project as of late. I was promoted to Director of Electronic
Student Services about six months ago and my new duties have
understandably impacted my role in the project. Matt McNaney
was designated as Assistant Project Manager in response to
these changes and has done a very good job in this role. My
focus is primarily with the students involved in the program
and in the administrative role of keeping the project funded
and "alive".

Thank you for your time and thank you for your many
contributions.

Kind Regards,
Brian W. Brown
phpWebSite Project Manager

--
Brian W. Brown
Director, Electronic Student Services
Student Development
Room 269, John Thomas Hall
Appalachian State University
Boone, NC 28608
vox: 828-262-7124
fax: 828-262-2585

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