REBOL Technologies

Tracking REBOL Projects

Carl Sassenrath, CTO
REBOL Technologies
11-Jun-2010 17:46 GMT
Article #0478
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I've added a few updated comments to the end of this article, based on comments within the group.

I need your help! These days there's far too much going on in the world of REBOL for me to personally keep track of and attempt to manage it all.

In fact, I have so many projects right now (about 20), I can hardly keep track of those alone. I now use an internal website where I use the WIP Wiki 3 to keep track of projects and all the notes related to them.

However, for worldwide REBOL projects, including those related to R3 development, the situation is more complex. I would classify it right now as a bit chaotic.

So that's a problem; now what's the solution? The perfect solution (for me) would be a web-page that lists each project along with status, who's leading the development, and when something was last done. It could also be for "wish projects" (things we want, but don't yet have developer commitments), as well as bounties, if so sponsored.

Yes, originally, I wanted DevBase to do this. But, I just don't have the time.

So, I need your help identifying an existing open software projects website that we could rally around for REBOL projects. This approach not only gives everyone access, also adds some visibility to REBOL overall.

Of course, whatever we pick, it must be possible to see a list of all REBOL projects and the status of each project... that's my primary requirement.

Any suggestions?

Example Projects...

In addition to the Host-Kit, a few projects that are high on my R3 list are:

  • Mezz-plus function package - it allows us to remove some of the mezz functions from the primary boot, but let's us include them in the exec binary as an internally loadable module. For example the CGI functions we commonly use on servers would go here.
  • Network protocols - Graham has written several of them for R3, and Gabriele wrote HTTP, but we need to collect them into a central project, an figure out what else is needed and who wants to do it.
  • Improved Win32 Console - this is a C project, and we've got the R2 console to begin with.
  • Proxy server support - the host kit provides the TCP/IP interface modules, and that's the best place for developer to add the proxy connections. Getting the main proxies working is not a big project, but help is needed for testing.
  • Database interfaces - MySQL, SQLite, etc.
  • Library interface - we've talked about this before.

And, there are many others.

Update 12-Jun-2010

I should stress that simpler is better. We do not need the classic project management system with all the administration duties and such (because that's not an effective approach for community-based project development.)

What I envision is a listing of projects that can be suggested by or implemented by anyone who's interested. The main purpose of the list is to make developers aware that a need exists for each project. For example, a better R3 console.

This is important because if the full development community can see the list, they may find that they can contribute to projects in one way or another. In addition, allowing anyone to post a project makes it possible for developers to request the implementation of something that is important to them (but perhaps not to others), even if they don't intend to implement it themselves.

And finally, some of the projects will "pop up" as being features we may want integrated into R3 itself. So, the list gives us a stream of improvements to the capabilities for all users.

The bottom line is that the result is more of a communication method than a management mechanism. That's what I'm interested in.

23 Comments

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