| Shuttleworth on Bazaar and open-source project development |
Jan. 10, 2008
Sometimes open-source development projects plod along at a slow walk. Sometimes they develop at a gallop. Bazaar, the version control system from Canonical, is entering the Kentucky Derby.
Bazaar 1.0, a distributed version control system used in Ubuntu Linux development, only arrived in early December. Now, the next version, Bazaar 1.1, is about ready for the starting gate. The first release candidate for 1.1 arrived on Jan. 5.
While used primarily in Linux, Bazaar can be used on any operating system that supports Python 2.4 or later. The release candidate is already available in easy-to-install packages not just for Linux but for Mac OS Tiger and Panther, FreeBSD and Windows.
In a blog posting, Canonical CEO and Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth observed that the new version has many "small but useful branches with bug fixes for various corner cases, operating systems and integrations with other tools." In particular, Shuttleworth noted the rapid development of the Bazaar Plugin for the Eclipse IDE (Integrated Development Environment). Since Eclipse, according to the 2007 Linux Foundation survey is the single most important Linux desktop application development platform, this integration effort is likely to be well used by Linux programmers.
What's more important to Shuttleworth, though, wasn't so much the rapid development of Bazaar itself. What's important is that Bazaar has managed the difficult transition from "a tight group of core contributors who get the basics laid out to the point where the tool or application is usable by a wider audience. Then, they need to make the transition from being 'closely held' to being open to drive-by contributions from folks who just want to fix a small bug or add a small feature. That's quite a difficult transition because the social skills required to run the project are quite different in those two modes. It's not only about having good social skills, but also about having good processes that support the flow of new, small contributions from new, unproven contributors into the code-base."
Bazaar, like Firefox, Shuttleworth claims, has benefited from the key "best practice" of using plug-in architectures. These "allow new developers to contribute an extension, plug-in or add-on to the codebase without having to learn too much about the guts of the project, or participate in too many heavyweight processes."
So, Shuttleworth attributes Bazaar's development speed to "a well-defined plug-in system" and "a very useful and pragmatic layered architecture which keeps the various bits of complexity contained for those who really need to know. I've observed how different teams of contributors, or individuals, have introduced whole new on-disk formats with new performance characteristics, completely orthogonally to the rest of the code. So if you are interested in the performance of status and diff, you can delve into working tree state code without having to worry about long-term revision storage or branch history mappings."
While any software development method has its problems - Shuttleworth comments that layering, if done too early in a project's evolution, can get in the way of useful work - he clearly believes that plug-ins and layering can make it much easier for a small open-source project to grow into a large one. Or, to put it another way, it makes it easier to take a promising colt and turn it into a potential Triple Crown winner.
—Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
Do you have comments on this story?
Talkback here
NOTE: Please post your comments regarding our articles using the above link. Be sure to use this article's title as the "Subject" in your posts. Before you create a new thread, please check to see if a discussion thread is already running on the article you plan to comment on. Thanks!
Related stories:
(Click here for further information)
|
|
|
7 Advantages of D2D Backup
For decades, tape has been the backup medium of choice. But, now, disk-to-disk (D2D) backup is gaining in favor. Learn why you should make the move in this whitepaper.
4 Legal Reasons to Control Internet Access
The Internet is obviously a valuable resource for many organizations. However, many are exposed to legal liability concerns because they fail to control Internet access. Learn if you're safe in this white paper.
Rapidly Resolve J2EE Application Problems
Whether you are in the process of building J2EE applications or have J2EE applications already running in production, you must ensure that they deliver the expected ROI. Learn how in this white paper.
Load Testing 2.0 for Web 2.0
There are many unknowns in stress testing Web 2.0 applications. Find out how to test the performance of Web 2.0 in this white paper.
Build Better Games Online
For the game infrastructure providers, life is complex. Making money from games has become more complicated. Why? Find out in this white paper.
Building a Virtual Infrastructure from Servers to Storage
This white paper discusses the virtual storage solutions that reduce cost, increase storage utilization, and address the challenges of backing up and restoring Server environments.
Gaining Faster Wireless Connections with WiMAX
Welcome to what is quickly becoming the hyperconnected world where anything that would benefit from being connected to the network will be connected. Learn more in this white paper.
Is Your Desktop a Security Threat?
The new wave of sophisticated crimeware not only targets specific companies, but also targets desktops and laptops as backdoor entryways into those business’ operations and resources. Learn how to stay safe in this white paper.
Increasing SAN Reliability by 100 Percent
Storage area networks (SAN) are a strong part of storage plans. Learn how to increase your reliability and uptime by 100 percent in this case study.
|
|
|
|
|
news feed