Patches - code freeze

*** Larry wrote in another thread:
> In addition to claiming modules to work on, if there
are any  
> pending patches that make substantial changes to a core
module that  
> need to go in before code freeze let us know about
those, too, so  
> we can not touch that module yet.  This performance
refactoring can  
> stretch post-1 June I believe since there's no API
changes (Dries,  
> correct me if that's an incorrect statement), and I'd
rather not  
> block someone else's patch that's almost-there. 

There are a lot of patches really, and we could use a hand
reviewing  
those.  And when I say "reviewing", I mean
"studying the code and  
thinking it through" rather than just showing your
support to the  
author of the patch.  We could use more "in-depth
reviews" to help  
some of the bigger patches move forward.

I'm currently on the train so I can't check the issue queue,
but at  
the top of my head (and afraid to miss out on some other
important  
patches), here is my top-6 things I'd like to see us focus
on.  In  
order of priority:

   1. Getting the pending i18n patches into Drupal core --
I'd rather  
not ship with a half solution.
   2. Getting OpenID into Drupal core.
   3. Getting actions into Drupal core.
   4. Getting schema API into Drupal core.
   5. Paving the path for webservices: data API, being more
XML/REST/ 
JSON friendly, etc.
   6. Getting more of CCK into Drupal core.

Most of these patches are important for Drupal's future.  If
we can't  
get them in by the code freeze, this means that these
features might  
have to wait another year (!) to get into Drupal 7.  Having
to miss  
out on these for one year, might be a really long time ...
for  
various reasons, I'd rather not see that happen.

At the same time, I'm still looking for patches that help
improve the  
user experience or that help improve performance.  Most
users don't  
really care about the architectural changes that happen
under the  
hood; they care about bling and ease-of-use.  So things like
forum  
module improvements, more accessible terminology, tracker  
improvements, easier access control, upload/file handling  
improvements, search module improvements, are no-brainers
that tend  
to jump to the top of my TODO/review-list.  But when these
don't make  
it into Drupal 6, they'll be able to live in contrib for a
while and  
most of the time, that's perfectly fine.

An exception is the update_status.module that Earl and Derek
are  
working on -- we definitely want that in core even though it
is not  
an architectural change.

It's not always black and white, but in general, the patches
that I  
care most about at this point in the release cycle -- and
which I  
encourage *you* to care most about as well -- are
architectural  
changes that impact the future of Drupal.  Of course, these
are more  
difficult to grok and review, but when you do, you'll have a
bigger  
impact on our future. 

--
Dries Buytaert  ::  http://www.buytaert.net/

On Wednesday 23 May 2007, Dries Buytaert wrote:
> *** Larry wrote in another thread:
> > In addition to claiming modules to work on, if
there are any
> > pending patches that make substantial changes to a
core module that
> > need to go in before code freeze let us know about
those, too, so
> > we can not touch that module yet.  This
performance refactoring can
> > stretch post-1 June I believe since there's no API
changes (Dries,
> > correct me if that's an incorrect statement), and
I'd rather not
> > block someone else's patch that's almost-there.

>
> There are a lot of patches really, and we could use a
hand reviewing
> those.  And when I say "reviewing", I mean
"studying the code and
> thinking it through" rather than just showing your
support to the
> author of the patch.  We could use more "in-depth
reviews" to help
> some of the bigger patches move forward.

*snip*

I'm going to interpret that as "splitting stuff up can
wait," then, and see 
where else I can be useful. 

-- 
Larry Garfield			AIM: LOLG42
larrygarfieldtech.com		ICQ: 6817012

"If nature has made any one thing less susceptible than
all others of 
exclusive property, it is the action of the thinking power
called an idea, 
which an individual may exclusively possess as long as he
keeps it to 
himself; but the moment it is divulged, it forces itself
into the possession 
of every one, and the receiver cannot dispossess himself of
it."  -- Thomas 
Jefferson

On 23 May 2007, at 16:20, Larry Garfield wrote:
>> There are a lot of patches really, and we could use
a hand reviewing
>> those.  And when I say "reviewing", I
mean "studying the code and
>> thinking it through" rather than just showing
your support to the
>> author of the patch.  We could use more
"in-depth reviews" to help
>> some of the bigger patches move forward.
>
> I'm going to interpret that as "splitting stuff up
can wait," then,  
> and see
> where else I can be useful. 

Correct! 

As usual, usability and performance improvements that don't
break  
(too many) APIs can slip in the first couple of weeks after
the code  
freeze.

--
Dries Buytaert  ::  http://www.buytaert.net/