Four years on....but a lot has happened..........and we have Barry's gems and gold, stillBarry K wrote:How the Puppy project is run
July 23, 2007
I am writing this page so that anyone who gets involved with the project will know exactly where they stand and won't have expectations that exceed what is delivered. A few years ago, this project was just me, so it didn't matter. As time has gone on, particularly in the second half of 2006 and into 2007, a great many people have come onboard, in a range of capacities -- some are contributing to the development, some are testing, some helping with web pages, others helping out in the forum. Therefore, it has become important for me to clarify various aspects of how the project is managed and how it will be managed in the future.
Some of what you will read below is quite frank, and somewhat out of character for me to express it. Normally I'm just busy with the project, and sometimes I'm taken by surprise when a conflict or misunderstanding arises. I hope that statements here will minimise any future issues, and allow us all to just enjoy using and developing Puppy.
Project structure
Puppy has never been run as a "proper" project, it has always been ad-hoc. There is no CVS/SVN server, no bug-reporter. For the last couple of years, new puppies have been released every 6 - 8 weeks, a hectic pace, and some would say too hasty for proper bug catching prior to each release. Right up front I would like to state that none of this is likely to change.
There is the appearance of chaos in many aspects of the project, but there is intelligence behind my choice to let everything run free. Developers come in and just let their heads go -- maximum creativity. I think that the end result speaks for itself.
For me, Puppy is a fun project. If it stops being fun, I will move onto something else. I don't have the motivation for more formality, and I find that trying to please many people is not good for the project in the long run. So I just do whatever I please -- I consider all advice very carefully, and often do follow it, but in the end what it comes down to is I decide what to do next in Puppy. There is no committee, no inner-circle. You may advise me, but I have no obligation to do anything that you say or expect. If you think I've done something dumb, well, that's just tough.
Possibly the hectic release schedule will slow down sometime, after all there are other things in life -- I want to go off fossicking soon (gemstones, gold).
There are currently several Puppy-derivatives, and one that is an actual fork -- Grafpup. Anybody is welcome to fork the project and manage it anyway they like. The thing is though, it isn't easy, an incredible amount of commitment is required. If you like Puppy but would like to see more formal management, Nathan, the developer of Grafpup might be interested. Good ideas in Grafpup will likely find their way back to Puppy anyway.
Thanks, Barry
Maybe, you would do an update on this?
Aitch