[Source] xj3d checked into source forge, planned improvement activity

Tue Aug 19 12:43:59 PDT 2014

Don,

If I've learned something about working with you in the past it's your
going to do what you want to do regardless.  I don't have the time to have
a long debate about this topic and really I just don't care to work with
you any more.  Some days I respect your stubborness and other days I think
your a big part of what drives people away from participating with X3D.

I'll continue to host Xj3D on my personal funds and dedicate the time I
can.  We'll focus on stability for production usage, mostly as a tool chain
for processing 3D content.

On Tue, Aug 19, 2014 at 11:59 AM, Don Brutzman <brutzman at nps.edu> wrote:

> Hi Rex, hope you are well.
>
> Your questions are important, so in addition to your copying
> source at web3d.org, I am copying these responses to the x3d-public mailing
> list as well.  (Both mailing lists are public.)
>
> Further comment is welcome.
>
> On 8/17/2014 4:49 AM, Rex Melton wrote:
>
>> On 6/3/2014 3:12 PM, Alan Hudson wrote:
>>
>>> Don, I understand your desires to fork the codebase and I'm fine with
>>> that.  I would ask that you change the name of the new project so there is
>>> no confusion.
>>>
>>
>> On 8/9/2014 9:15 PM, Don Brutzman wrote:
>>
>>> Announcement: NPS has copied the full Xj3D codebase and history from
>>> xj3d.org and uploaded everything to the Sourceforge Xj3D site.
>>>
>>
> We have been following the plan outlined on the following wiki page with
> recurring email discussion over the past months.
>
>         Xj3D Evolution
>
>         http://www.web3d.org/wiki/index.php/Xj3D_Evolution
>
>  Perhaps I missed some out of band communication on this....
>>
>> Has there been agreement to relocate the Xj3D repository without
>> rebranding? If so, have there been discussions regarding cut over dates,
>> commit rights, etc?
>>
>
> There have been a series of prior messages on the source & x3d-public
> mailing lists.  Summary, copied from the top of that wiki page:
>
> ========================================================================
> Discussion and consensus building
>
> We are using source at web3d.org mailing list to work out these
> possibilities and build stakeholder consensus. (subscribe, archive)
>
> Consensus summary points
>
>     Basic strategy: we are evolving by re-versioning, not re-naming Xj3D
>     We will simply mirror the current xj3d.org repository, as version
> 2.0, and maintain full backwards compatibility by integrating any
> forthcoming changes there
> ========================================================================
>
> We met the publicly stated goal of completing the copying of the entire
> Xj3D.org codebase + history to Sourceforge, just prior to the Web3D
> Conference and SIGGRAPH 2014 in Vancouver.
>
> Here is some more about recent steps in Xj3D Evolution.  The discussion
> about moving to github went pretty far, including the creation of a project
> there.  Either sourceforge or github appeared to be viable destinations.
>
> The xj3d.org site has of course been useful, but it is not effective at
> encouraging either participation or improvement.  It has been frozen for
> years now.  Further it's hostname renewal was in question a few years ago,
> and Web3D Consortium's decision to assume the financial responsibility for
> site renewal was rejected at the last minute before private renewal.
>
> The NPSteam does not want to repeat that risk to our sizable investment of
> time and effort into Xj3D, upon which multiple tools depend.
>
> During the public creation and review of this Xj3D Evolution plan, it
> became clear that multiple orphaned Xj3D projects need to be integrated
> back into the Xj3D codebase.  They are listed on the page above at
>
>         http://www.web3d.org/wiki/index.php/Xj3D_Evolution#
> Merge_orphaned_Xj3D_codebases
>
> For some time, github appeared to be more appealing for encouraging broad
> participation in Xj3D development.  However, recovering all this past work
> became the dominant factor in choosing Sourceforge over github, so that
> re-integration using subversion was possible.  NPS is committed to working
> with these other projects to integrate their sizable improvements back into
> Xj3D, one by one.
>
> The current Sourceforge Xj3D versioning plan is:
>
> - Migrate trunk, all branches, and all code history from Xj3D to
> Sourceforge (complete)
> - Move current trunk snapshot to a branch, call it Xj3D version 2.0
> - Move the NPS branch to become new trunk, call it Xj3D version 2.1
> - Continue incrementing as 2.2, 2.3, etc. with each merger of past projects
> - Build community of engaged users and committers using Sourceforge
> suggested practices
>
> NPS is further prepared to track and adopt any future changes occurring in
> the xj3d.org trunk over to Sourceforge Xj3D that may have broad utility
> to Xj3D.
>
> Regarding commit rights, we would be happy to extend them to any of the
> current Xj3D.org committers as individuals might want.  Presumably they
> might further want to be "in charge" of the Sourcefore Xj3D 2.0 branch,
> which would make sense.  As far as future committers who might be added,
> following the Sourceforge rules for meritocracy and skill in a community
> would seem to offer a proven path for group success.  The mechanics of
> granting projeect permissions can be found at
> https://sourceforge.net/p/forge/documentation/Project%20Permissions
>
> I walked a few rows across the SIGGRAPH show floor last week and had a
> constructive conversation with Alan Hudson (who you quoted above).  He
> again mentioned naming, and that he didn't want to add features to the
> existing stable Xj3D.  I explained how discussion regarding evolution and
> recovery of past codebases became way too confounding if the codebase had a
> different name.  It might also seem quite unfair to the many people who
> have engaged in using and extending the Xj3D project.  Further, our focus
> is less on "features" per se, and more on simply implementing the X3D
> standard within Xj3D.  Indeed, the opening sentence on the Xj3D.org site
> states that case well:
>
>         http://xj3d.org
>
>         "Xj3D is a project of the Web3D Consortium focused on creating a
> toolkit for
>         VRML97 and X3D content written completely in Java."
>
> Hopefully we are achieving the best interests of all concerned, to
> continue growing the technical capabilities of Xj3D and encouraging the
> growth of a larger and more-effective open-source community via Sourceforge.
>
> I hope this summary provides a helpful recap of the good-faith
> step-by-step efforts that are continuing.
>
> Additional questions, concerns, improvements and alternatives are always
> welcome.
>
> all the best, Don
> --
> Don Brutzman  Naval Postgraduate School, Code USW/Br
> brutzman at nps.edu
> Watkins 270,  MOVES Institute, Monterey CA 93943-5000 USA
> +1.831.656.2149
> X3D graphics, virtual worlds, navy robotics http://faculty.nps.edu/
> brutzman
>
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>
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