- Yes I agree that it is incredibly easy to create common business screens. The problem is in the custom stuff. As you mentioned creating something that does not exist in moqui is where it becomes challenging and there are a quite a few things we need that fit that category.
It’s just Java and a bunch of common libraries underneath, are you saying it is MORE challenging than just using those tools for some reason?
- Sticking with only one render-mode means we lose on being output-agnostic. what if we want to switch in the future? or what if we deprecate one of the render modes or it receives much less attention? We prefer to write the code in an output agnostic way or at least be able to extend the render-specific modes and alter the structure of it. I’m not sure if this is moqui-specific or just the nature of things, but hey I’m just relaying my experience.
Why on earth would you build a highly dynamic or complex UI and target multiple render modes?
If you want to switch in the future, switch in the future… why worry about it now when it’s a great big unknown?
- So you hit the nail right on the head with regards to contributing. You said that the biggest thing holding back contributions is “whether the code is compatible and useful for other people who use moqui”. Knowing what that would be IS the challenge. How can I start contributing if I’m not sure of where we want to “push” so to speak. The only way to know is to try and be guided with feedback. Without guidance or feedback (especially in discussions in the forums / mailing list) I just do not have confidence to make PRs because I might start thinking maybe they don’t want this or don’t want that and I don’t want to just waste time so we keep developing locally.
With all of that being said, I will attempt to maybe create small PRs here and there and see if I can work my way up from there since you opened the door for us to try (thank you).
Contributing will always be a challenge, by design. Is that a bug, or maybe a feature? What is so critical that is missing that needs to be added for Moqui to be viable? What must be in the open source projects that you can’t do in any other way?
You can build anything you want and post it and share it on GitHub or many other places. The Moqui open source projects are intentionally strictly moderated. There are too many users of Moqui with too much on the line to be casual about that. FWIW, I don’t want Moqui to ever turn into OFBiz where contributions are moderated through all the time without sufficient discussion, review, and testing.
For the open pull requests and issues… I could go out there and be REALLY HARSH and just shut them all down. I prefer to leave them open with comments to see if they’ll go anywhere, and if anyone (other than me and the initial contributor!) wants to do something with it.
If that comes across as no moderation going on, look a little deeper… look at all the closed PRs, not just the open ones. Look at the long history.
As for scope and what makes sense to contribute… PLEASE don’t start with a big pull request! Ugghhh… I HATE those. Someone makes dozens of assumptions and decisions and implies that it’s the way to go without defining or describing anything, asking me to dig through and ferret out the garbage, and then complain when I don’t like it.
The place to start is… wait for it… COLLABORATION! Discuss publicly, and very specifically, what is it is you need or what it is you want to build. If there is not feedback, no replies and engagement, then no one cares. You may find it important and it’s worth building to you, but maybe not to anyone else who both sees your message and has a similar need at that particular time. I guess patience helps too…
The harsh truth of the world is most people don’t care about most things, and it is very difficult to rally volunteers around any particular things. It is not reasonable to expect people to care about everything all the time, I try that sometimes here and there… part of why I’m rather broken in the head. I don’t recommend it.
As for what to expect: EXPECT NOTHING! You’ll be a lot happier.
I’ve explained many times how things get into Moqui, based mostly on how I work in an open-source-first way. Others could do that too, but I warn you now: it is a a difficult thing that most could not do, and often a hell I would not wish on anyone.
Without operating open-source-first, does it even make sense to try to re-design and re-factor very custom solutions to make them open source? Usually not… but you can always release it in your own public repository on GitHub and find out!