[Greasemonkey] Userscripts.org Wikified Scripts: Branching

[Britt Selvitelle]

We have discussed and mulled over this at great length.

We originally were leaning towards a branching model, but as noted
this quickly becomes too complicated, and decided to go with linear,
wiki style scripts.

The main purpose of wikified scripts is to allow for prevention of
bitrot when an author no longer maintains it. As an added bonus
someone may add rockin new features, but general etiquette would be to
speak with the developer first.

I don't want to misquote Aaron here, but at one point we spoke about
having all scripts editable by anyone, with the ability to revert
changes and whatnot. All scripts on us.o would be completely open. Of
course this could lead to some frustration (as happens from time to
time on any wiki), but it is just an idea we have played with.

Possibly offering the auther the ability to maintain control, but
strongly recommend leaving the scripts open, and then have an
administrative process towards opening the script for editing if the
author becomes inactive.

Britt

On 7/3/06, Brendan J <verifex at gmail.com> wrote:
> What is too bad is that, in many of the circumstances we have on
> userscripts.org, is that the original author has gone missing.  So the
> original script cannot be updated.  Some mechanism needs to be in place for
> this eventuality.  Like an expiry time? A vote to update script?  Or voting
> on each script that has branches so the community can decide which is the
> best script to choose.
>
> Ahh hell, even if it isn't all that complex, even the most basic branching
> model would be leaps and bounds better then the current system.
>
> On 7/2/06, Lenny Domnitser <ldrhcp at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > On 7/2/06, Jeremy Dunck <jdunck at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > That's nice for the would-be author, but how does someone visiting
> > > choose which branch to use?
> >
> > If a script is actively maintained, people can send the author
> > patches. I think branching is ideal when somebody wants to add a
> > feature or fix a bug that the author is not fixing on their own.
> > Branching is basically what happens already, except it is more
> > discoverable. People will also have help in choosing a branch based on
> > ratings, comments, and last-modified dates.
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