Contrib or no ? Answer is yes.

barCamp discussion and feedback at portlet incubation panel indicate that contrib. space is a  good idea.  Contrib would a pre-incubation area of our svn repository.  Contributions may stay in contrib indefinitely and do not have to be headed towards incubation.  Many people are developing portlets which they would like to share but may not be prepared to meet incubation standards.  Contrib is a place one institution can share their work with another.

• A portlet repository is key to adoption of uPortal and we want to lower the bar for contributing back without compromising the quality of what is officially sponsored.
• Some items are just contributions and not ever going to incubate but still worth sharing.  Examples:
  • Esup portail v2 channel. Perhaps v3 too (See candidates below).
  • Irc bot to collect log and keep in wiki.  This is a contribution which someone may want to use but is not core to JA-SIG and would get no support.
  • Banner integration ideas / components could be shared.  See http://www.ja-sig.org/wiki/display/UPC/Banner

LifeCycle / Process

Contributer Agreements

Soon JA-SIG wants to ask for contributor agreements for contributed code. Currently we will allow portlets into incubation without but will require them to become full projects.

Infrastructure - proposed svn changes

contrib

The current ja-sig repository has contrib but we want to change the usage to be for pre-incubation projects or contributions which may never go to through incubation to hatch as sponsored projects or sub-projects. As such it would contain:

• ConfluenceIrcLogger (stays where it is)
• Move from "sandbox" to contrib
  AjaxNotepadPortlet/
  AjaxPortletSupport
  FacebookPortlet
  MailPortlet
  TabbedRssPortlet
  WeatherPortlet

move sandbox under uPortal

sandbox(es) would exist within projects as needed.  Create sandbox under uPortal and copy these projects there from current sandbox to one under uportal 

portal
uP3OrmTesting

retired

for code which is abandoned but may be picked up by someone who has a specific need.  This is where we will put AggregatedLayaoutManager that is currently in contrib

Advantages of being a sponsored ja-sig project

• Support of a broad community aligned with project goals and user constituency.
• share project wide issues such as licensing and contributer agreements
• shared infrastructure for repository, web presence, documentation, marketing
• Access to a forum of conferences and informal meetings for presentations, training, discussion, exposure
• Gain sustainability for the long term by separating project from a single institution to a community whose mission includes development and dissemination of open source solutions for higher education.