Re: [Slashcode-general] I volunteer to help resuscitate Slashcode

[George T. <geo...@gm...>]

Tell you what. This is slashcode-general, after all. Whoever's still
here is interested in the functionality of Slash, regardless of what
form it takes.

Some of us, however few, think the original Perl code may be worth
saving. A few others think Slash's key functionality should be pursued
in other platforms. And a few others think that the set of value that
Slash represented -- which is more than just its moderation -- is
dead, gone and not coming back.

To the last, I say, if you feel that strongly, please unsubscribe and
drop us a farewell note; if you stay, don't badmouth whatever efforts
others might say they want to put in.

To those who think other platforms should be used: you may be right,
and you may be proven right shortly. If that's the way that people
here decide to go, then perhaps slashcode-general can still be used to
pursue that functionality in, say, Drupal.

To everyone, I say, though: there is this existing code base. It IS
being actively maintained, just not entirely open-source. The
maintainers are not trying to keep it from being open-source; they
just don't have the time to do things like upload the latest revision
to the repo, let alone to write the kind of documentation that would
help people like me install an instance of Slash successfully using
currently-maintained platforms.

There are at least three people who have contacted me privately saying
they all have limited time, but they'd still like to contribute to a
project like this however they can. That's enough for me.

I'd like to thank everyone for contributing to this thread. Even those
who were negative contributed crucial knowledge. I'd also like to see
this thread end. I'm starting a new one for people who are still
interested in Slashcode, in general. I hope that you can contribute to
the knowledge base that this project needs so badly.

== George

On Sat, Feb 5, 2011 at 12:48 PM, T. J. Brumfield <end...@gm...> wrote:
> http://drupal.org/project/slashcomments
>
> Someone already started on one. Apparently it works in modding posts up and
> down, but there is no framework for assigning moderation points in the first
> place. Someone could finish that off.
>
> On Sat, Feb 5, 2011 at 6:04 AM, Steve Perkins <li...@st...>
> wrote:
>>
>>     I would never tell an interested person to *not* work on a
>> project.  However, with there being dozens of viable and thriving CMS
>> systems out there today... I honestly believe your resources would be
>> better spent in developing a plugin for one (or more) of those.
>>
>>     The main selling point of Slash was (is) the moderation system.
>> However, it's not *that* big a task to add similar moderation to a CMS
>> through a plugin.  Maintaining the whole of Slash for this one feature
>> is like a car maker keeping an old model in production for its great
>> dashboard layout.  Few people are going to buy a car based on that
>> criteria alone... and it would be so much easier to copy the dashboard
>> layout into contemporary models.
>>
>>     This second point could ruffle feathers... but not only has the
>> Slash developer community dwindled, the larger Perl web development
>> community isn't what it was 10 years ago either.  I keep my skills sharp
>> enough to tweak old legacy stuff here and there, but in the year 2011 I
>> would never commit to any major new Perl 5 initiative.  You arguably
>> have Python as the main general-purpose Perl successor, Ruby is popular
>> among the more "artsy" crowd, and there's Java for people whose primary
>> job is writing business software.
>>
>>     However, the lion's share of "mod_perl" stuff has gone to PHP.
>> Yeah, it's an ugly hack of a language... but so was Perl!  Perl was
>> simply the ugly hack that most of us started out on and grew comfortable
>> with.  The largest plugin-based CMS systems are written in PHP, and that
>> developer community is large and vibrant.  You have to separate a lot of
>> wheat from the chaff with those guys, but that was always true with Perl
>> developers too.
>>
>>     If you found one or two motivated PHP coders (or hell, just learn
>> it yourself!)... you could probably have Slash-style moderation in a
>> Drupal or Wordpress plugin within weeks.  There may already be plugins
>> that are close, and could be forked and modified to fill the gaps.  The
>> work would be easier, and you would have a larger audience of possible
>> users (whereas nobody's going to drop Drupal for Slash).
>>
>>     Best of luck in whatever direction you pursue!
>>
>> Steve
>>
>>
>>
>> On 2/4/2011 5:13 AM, Eric Dannewitz wrote:
>> > If you search through the archives, you'd see I was a regular poster
>> > on this list.....when it lived. Honestly, this little discussion is
>> > probably the most traffic the list has seen in half a decade.
>> >
>> > > From what I remember, the slash code guys basically gave the
>> > impression that they were never going to put together another tar ball
>> > release (and I dont think they ever have) and as for updates for the
>> > community......good luck.
>> >
>> > So, that is when I decided to leave and finally spent one weekend and
>> > came up with SQL scripts to convert my stories and users to word
>> > press.
>> >
>> > Protest? No. I'd rather think myself as a person warning others that
>> > slash code is a dead end. That when I switched to word press, I had
>> > joined a vibrant community where there were plugins. Documentation on
>> > the codebase. Upgrades that were easy. Themes. Easy customizations.
>> > Etc. And the performance on my server was as good if not better than
>> > before. Compare that to slash code. There is no community. The slash
>> > code site was last updated.....2009? and before that there was a post
>> > in 2008......And the last post on slash code was basically saying we
>> > aren't supporting it, but here is where you can get the code. Good
>> > luck.
>> >
>> > I think I'd rather take my chances with php and word press cause there
>> > are more than about 10 people who use it....
>> >
>> >
>> > On Friday, February 4, 2011, George Taft<geo...@gm...>
>> >  wrote:
>> >> Eric -- I appreciate your frustration with Slashcode. Perhaps like
>> >> Scott you had forgotten the list existed. Nevertheless, you responded
>> >> to my initial post, not once but four times.
>> >>
>> >> I guess my only question to you would be, why reply unless you still
>> >> cared? Methinks you protest too much. If you're a coder, a new effort
>> >> to revive the project might be able to use your help. == George
>> >>
>> >> On Fri, Feb 4, 2011 at 12:10 AM, Eric Dannewitz<eri...@ja...>
>> >>  wrote:
>> >>> Reason why I ditched slashcode was that it was never updated, and it
>> >>> was
>> >>> never documented. The upgrade paths from the builds was a nightmare.
>> >>> Stuff
>> >>> would work, then not.
>> >>> Migrating to wordpress has resulted in a faster site, and I can take
>> >>> advantage of a huge supply of plugins and interest in the platform.
>> >>> And the
>> >>> upgrade path to new versions is well documented and easy
>> >>> There isn't anything remotely like with slashcode. Ever. Since 98 or
>> >>> whenever. It was a pain until 2008 when I decided to figure out how to
>> >>> migrate my stuff to wordpress.
>> >>>
>> >>> Sent from my iSomething
>> >>> On Feb 3, 2011, at 9:03 PM, Clifton Wood<cli...@gm...>
>> >>>  wrote:
>> >>>
>> >>> The problem here is that we'd spend more time making Drupal into
>> >>> Slashcode
>> >>> than making a better Slashcode.
>> >>> - Cliff
>> >>>
>> >>> On Thu, Feb 3, 2011 at 10:28 PM, T. J.
>> >>> Brumfield<end...@gm...>
>> >>> wrote:
>> >>>> There are some Drupal modules that were started to add Slashcode
>> >>>> style
>> >>>> features, such as Slashcode moderation.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> http://drupal.org/project/slashcomments
>> >>>>
>> >>>> In a perfect world, I think Slashcode might be better off recreated
>> >>>> in
>> >>>> Drupal 7.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> There are far more extensions/modules for it. It is mature, stable,
>> >>>> tested
>> >>>> and well used. It would be easier to get support for. I would
>> >>>> seriously kill
>> >>>> for a slick, Drupal 7 powered Slashcode of the future.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> On Thu, Feb 3, 2011 at 8:44 PM, A H<hol...@gm...>  wrote:
>> >>>>> And can Wordpress do moderation points like Slash?
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> The moderation system was what attracted me to Slash but I had to
>> >>>>> give
>> >>>>> up on it - too many undocumented "features".
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> I think it's still a relevant format and I would love to see it
>> >>>>> flourish. My contribution would need to be in documentation because
>> >>>>> I
>> >>>>> am not a programmer.
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> -Andrew
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> On Thu, Feb 3, 2011 at 8:39 PM, Eric
>> >>>>> Dannewitz<eri...@ja...>
>> >>>>> wrote:
>> >>>>>> I'd ditch slash for wordpress. I did and have never regretted it
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> Sent from my iSomething
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> On Feb 3, 2011, at 4:23 PM, George Taft<geo...@gm...>
>> >>>>>> wrote:
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>>> An Open Letter to the Developers of Slashdot, and What's Left of
>> >>>>>>> the
>> >>>>>>> Slashcode Community --
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>> I'm an avid reader of Slashdot. I don't comment much, but I've
>> >>>>>>> always
>> >>>>>>> been impressed by Slashdot's moderation system. It manages what
>> >>>>>>> should
>> >>>>>>> be an unmanageable task: ensuring a civil discussion among
>> >>>>>>> thousands
>> >>>>>>> and thousands of users.
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>> I've come into a situation where I now need a system much like
>> >>>>>>> Slashdot's: an extensible and scalable readership-moderated online
>> >>>>>>> discussion forum. Lo and behold, Slashdot make Slash open source
>> >>>>>>> years
>> >>>>>>> ago. They even got an O'Reilly book.
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>> But Slashcode was never the priority of the coders. The last
>> >>>>>>> official
>> >>>>>>> release is, what, nine years old? There's been much more modern
>> >>>>>>> code
>> >>>>>>> released, but even that's a couple of years old. What little
>> >>>>>>> traces I
>> >>>>>>> can find of other sites using Slash involve those sites migrating
>> >>>>>>> to
>> >>>>>>> something else. This message is evidently the first post on
>> >>>>>>> slashcode-general in almost a year. The coders have written that
>> >>>>>>> management of the open-source branch of the codebase is still not
>> >>>>>>> their priority. And so the userbase has almos
>> >
>> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> > The modern datacenter depends on network connectivity to access
>> > resources
>> > and provide services. The best practices for maximizing a physical
>> > server's
>> > connectivity to a physical network are well understood - see how these
>> > rules translate into the virtual world?
>> > http://p.sf.net/sfu/oracle-sfdevnlfb
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Slashcode-general mailing list
>> > Sla...@li...
>> > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/slashcode-general
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> The modern datacenter depends on network connectivity to access resources
>> and provide services. The best practices for maximizing a physical
>> server's
>> connectivity to a physical network are well understood - see how these
>> rules translate into the virtual world?
>> http://p.sf.net/sfu/oracle-sfdevnlfb
>> _______________________________________________
>> Slashcode-general mailing list
>> Sla...@li...
>> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/slashcode-general
>
>
>
> --
> "I'm questioning my education
> Rewind and what does it show?
> Could be, the truth it becomes you
> I'm a seed, wondering why it grows"
> -- Pearl Jam, Education
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> The modern datacenter depends on network connectivity to access resources
> and provide services. The best practices for maximizing a physical server's
> connectivity to a physical network are well understood - see how these
> rules translate into the virtual world?
> http://p.sf.net/sfu/oracle-sfdevnlfb
> _______________________________________________
> Slashcode-general mailing list
> Sla...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/slashcode-general
>
>